Exploring Pont du Gard, France

After some further adventures in and around Carcassonne & Rustiques, we repacked the Renault, and headed off to Annecy. This was easily the longest drive so far, at 560 kilometers, we knew we had to get out on the autoroute early.

Our drive from Rustiques to the Pont du Gard was 227 kilometers via the A9 auto route. We had researched this destination and knew that stopping to see the Pont du Gard was well worth the time, so we made a very early departure from Rustiques.

This is a huge structure, 160 feet in height, 20 feet in width and was constructed by Roman Engineers nearly 2,000 years ago to carry water from Fontaine d'Eure to the Roman colony at Nimes, France.

Interesting Facts about Pont du Gard

It’s a Roman Aqueduct Bridge The Pont du Gard was built in the 1st century AD to carry water over 30 miles (50 km) from the Eure spring near Uzès to the Roman colony of Nîmes. It’s the highest Roman aqueduct bridge in the world.
It Was Constructed Without Mortar The bridge was built using over 50,000 tons of limestone blocks, precisely cut and fitted without the use of mortar. The weight and shape of the stones hold the structure together.
It Stands Nearly 160 Feet Tall The Pont du Gard is 48.8 meters (about 160 feet) tall and consists of three tiers of arches. Its massive size and elegant design have made it a symbol of Roman engineering mastery.
It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site In 1985, the Pont du Gard was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognized for its outstanding preservation and cultural significance. Click here to view their UNESCO Site status
It Delivered Millions of Gallons of Water Daily At its peak, the aqueduct delivered an estimated 44 million gallons (200,000 m³) of water per day to Nîmes, supplying public baths, fountains, and private homes.
It Was Also Used as a Road Bridge In the Middle Ages, the top tier (originally a water channel) fell into disrepair, but the lower tier was adapted for pedestrian and cart traffic, keeping the bridge in continuous use.
It Was Built with a Slight Slope The aqueduct’s channel descends only 17 meters over its entire 50-kilometer route—a gradient of just 0.034%, showing the Romans’ incredible precision in engineering.
Artists and Writers Were Inspired by It The Pont du Gard has captivated artists, writers, and architects for centuries, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Henry James, and appears in numerous works of art and literature.
Restoration Helped Save It from Ruin By the 18th and 19th centuries, the structure was deteriorating. Major restoration projects in the 19th and 20th centuries helped preserve the bridge and opened it to tourism.
It’s Surrounded by a Cultural Park Today, the Pont du Gard is part of a large heritage site and park, which includes museums, walking trails, picnic areas, and scenic viewpoints that enhance the visitor experience.

Discover the Pont du Gard in southern France—an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge set in stunning countryside. Learn its history, explore nearby trails, and experience one of the best-preserved Roman engineering marvels

The Pont du Gard is an extraordinarily well-preserved Roman aqueduct located near the town of Remoulins, France, in the Occitanie region. Towering above the Gardon River, this iconic structure stands as a testament to the brilliance of Roman engineering and construction techniques. Built in the 1st century AD, the aqueduct once formed part of a 50-kilometer system that delivered water from the Eure spring near Uzès to the Roman city of Nîmes. Though it no longer carries water, the bridge still supports pedestrian traffic, making it a living piece of history.

Construction of the entire aqueduct system spanned roughly 10 to 15 years, under the reigns of Emperors Claudius and Nero, with the Pont du Gard itself completed in under five years. The full aqueduct includes tunnels, basins, and more than twenty bridges, but the Pont du Gard is by far the most spectacular and well-preserved segment. Stretching over 275 meters long and standing nearly 50 meters high, it remains the tallest Roman aqueduct bridge ever built.

Having explored Roman ruins across Italy and other parts of Europe, we found the Pont du Gard to be particularly awe-inspiring. The craftsmanship is exceptional: each massive limestone block appears to have been cut and placed with incredible precision, leaving almost no gaps between stones—even though no mortar was used. Walking across the pedestrian bridge just below the aqueduct, you can closely observe the flawless alignment of the arches and the sheer scale of the construction.

The numbers behind it are equally impressive: the structure used over 21,000 cubic meters of stone, weighing an estimated 50,400 tons. One of its most remarkable features is the 25-meter span between its arches, which was among the widest in the Roman world at the time. It’s no wonder that this site continues to captivate engineers, architects, and history enthusiasts from around the globe.

More Info for Pont du Gard

Tickets: Here is the link to the Pont du Gard Prices and entry times page.
Pont du Gard Restaurants: Here is a Google Search Results link displaying restaurants.
Pont du Gard Website: Here is a link to their website.
Pont du Gard Map: Here is a link to view a Google Map.
Pont du Gard Wikipedia Article: Here is a link to view that article.
Pont du Gard Google Images: Here is a link to view those images.
Google Reviews for Pont du Gard, France

Image Credits

Image # 5 above is the property of Wolfgang Staudt via Wikimedia Commons using the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Image # 6 is the property of Tom Corser via Wikimedia Commons using the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Image # 7 is the property of Elihbeckman via Wikimedia Commons using the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic license.
Image # 8 is the property of Andrea Schaffer via Wikimedia Commons using the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
All other images, unless otherwise noted, are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC

Quick History Lesson

The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont du Gard, built as three tiers of archways to bring water to the city of Nîmes, is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 because of its historical importance.

The aqueduct bridge is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometer (31 mile) system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes). Because of the uneven terrain between the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that called for a bridge across the gorge of the Gardon River. The bridge has three tiers of arches, stands 48.8 meters (160 ft) high, and descends a mere 2.5 centimetres (1 in) – a gradient of only 1 in 18,241 – while the whole aqueduct descends in height by only 12.6 meters (41 ft) over its entire length, which is indicative of the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve using simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 8,800,000 imperial gallons of water per day.