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Passageway
- Nimes Amphitheater. |
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 imes
is our first stop on the way back to the Provence. It is an interesting
city with a 2,000 year history. We wander about about and explore.
The crocodile
and palm tree became the symbol of the Roman town of Nîmes
in 31 BC.
Nîmes most
prestigious history dates from the time when it was a colony under
Latin law. The Emperor Octavius, who later became Augustus, defeated
Cleopatra and Marc-Anthony at Actium in 30 BC. He ordered a special
coin to be minted representing his victories in Egypt and the accession
of the emperor to the colony of Nemausus.
We took a tour
of the Coliseum. They have refurbished the lower sections and installed
a removable cover. The amphitheater is still used regularly (even
the original Roman seating at times) for sporting events, concerts
and bull fights. This building is over 2,000 years old and still
working.
We compare that to the
Great Seattle Kingdome which barely lasted 30 years.
| "Levis
and blue jeans", symbols of the American pioneers is known
the world over.
However,
few realize that this famous cloth started life in Nîmes.
It was probably in the Middle Ages that the textile industry
began to export this supple, resistant and inexpensive serge
(worsted fabric) throughout Europe. Denim had many uses: sails,
canvas covers and… trousers. The marines in Genoa (Gènes)
tinted the Nîmes cloth indigo and used it for their
uniform.
Later on, some of the material was exported
to the United States, where a Bavarian immigrant called Levi
Strauss adapted it, in around 1870, to the tough life of the
conquerors of the wild west. From the word Denim signifying
‘de Nîmes' or ‘from Nîmes' and the
word ‘Jeans' from ‘Gènes', the modern blue
jean was born.
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Temple
of Athena |
We have lunch
in Nimes and finish our tour of the city. Then on to St.
Remy.
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