Occitanie
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

This part of the swampy Camargue has been exploited for the salt since Neolithic times. Charlemagne was the first to have a tower erected, in 791 AD to help the fishermen and salt workers. Later in the 13th century Louis IX developed the town’s defences so that France was not dependent on Italy for her involvement in the Crusades. Twice, for the 7th and 8th Crusades, Louis IX left for the Levant from here. But it was not until the very beginning of the 14th century, after some 30 years after Louis’s death that the walls completely encircled the city.

The amphitheatre in Nîmes is widely regarded as one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres. So well preserved is the structure that it is still used for a variety of events, although since 2009 it is in the process of being restored – a project that will last at least 25 years. It was built around 100 AD, shortly after the Colosseum in Rome, with an estimated seating capacity of 24,000. The amphitheatre was just inside the city wall, the position of which is marked in the paving surrounding the arena.

A guided tour at Cougnac takes visitors to two separate caves, one that is of geological interest and the other of archaeological – with the paintings. The tour starts in the undecorated cave, which provides visitors with information about the natural processes that create the limestone caves in which Stone Age artists came along many millions of years later and made their paintings and engravings. The nearby decorated cave has some of the finest examples of paintings in France, with a few unique and rare depictions.

Le Castellum Aquae in Nîmes (also called the castellum divisorium de Nîmes) is at the end of the 50 kilometre aqueduct (known as the Nîmes Aqueduct) that brought water from from a spring near Uzès, the Eure Fountain, to what was then the Roman city of Nemausus. Although the ruins seem quite simple and unassuming and tucked away in a side street of Nîmes, there is only one other castellum divisorium from the Roman world that is better preserved, and that is at Pompeii.

At 70 m high, with a river and a road running through the ‘tunnel’, the cave is itself well worth seeing. Visitors take a guided tour of the underground tunnels, learning about the prehistoric people who lived here. Unfortunately the cave art is in inaccessible parts of the cave, but there are reproductions of these images in the museum along with other artefacts recovered by archaeologists.

The medieval fortified city of Carcassonne, known locally as la Cité, is one of the most popular destination for visitors to the south of France. The citadel has been occupied since prehistoric times, but it was the Romans who first built a series of walls, parts of which can still be seen. These were added to by the Visigoths, Crusaders and other. As spectacular as the imposing walls are, much of what we see today is the result of 19th century restorations, which are not accurate. But well worth a visit, even with the tourists, for the Roman and Medieval ramparts, the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus, and the medieval castle & museum.

Legend has it that the Saint-Pierre Abbey in Moissac was founded by the Frankish king, Clovis I, in 506 AD to mark his victory over the Visigoths. More reliable historical records suggest the monastery was established in the 8th century. By the 11th century as a result of its association with the Cluny Abbey, it had become a wealthy religious centre in south-west France. The cloister is one of the largest and the best preserved Romanesque cloisters in Europe. The south portal is one of the largest Romanesque portals. Moissac Abbey is a listed UNIESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Pilgrimage to Saint-James of Compostela.

Niaux has some of the finest examples of Palaeolithic art in Europe. The cave stretches back into the mountain for about 2 km, but the first painted panels are only 500 m from the entrance. Besides paintings on the wall, there are also engravings on the clay floors. Graffiti from the 17th century suggests that these visitors knew about the prehistoric art. A walk of nearly 40 minutes takes you through some spectacular speleological features to the gallery of black animals

Since the discovery of the paintings in 1922 research on the paintings at Pech Merle, including the techniques used to make the images, what pigments the artists used, and also how some of the more complex panels developed over time, have been at the forefront of research on and debates about the meaning of Palaeolithic cave art in western Europe. Without doubt, this is one of the most striking decorated caves still open to the public in France – and should really not be missed. It is also the easiest cave to book tickets for.