Nîmes notes

a picture diary from a Roman town in the south of France

Tag Archives: Musée archéologique de Nîmes


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The creative Gallo-Roman artisans

Mosaic material
Mosaic maker
Mosaic makers in Roman costumes.
Leather maker
Another leather maker
Roman style shoes
Potter
Children’s workshop
Children could try it by themselves, too.
The excitement! (it’s an old coin he’s making flat)
Making a Roman oil lamp.
Oil lamp molds
Oil lamp to be.

The May theme of CDP is Creative artisan, and to be honest, I couldn’t first think of anything to post. Sure, there are a lot of artisans in Nîmes, but do I ever see them at work? Then I saw Steffe’s wonderful pictures of the Vikings, and suddenly remembered these snapshots I took last year at the Nîmes Roman festival. Leathermakers, potters, mosaic makers, oil lamp makers… and what else.

The festival, Les Grands Jeux Romains, is actually just around the corner: if you’re into Roman history, be in Nîmes on May 4th and 5th! History buffs and artisans from different areas of Europe (France, Germany, Italy…) gather together to celebrate the Roman history of Nîmes. And it’s great fun 🙂

Click here to see more creative artisans around the world.

Edit: More pictures of this years Great Roman Games in my other blog here!


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Roman stones

The Roman history of Nîmes (former Colonia Augusta Nemausus) is evident everywhere in the city. These stones can be found, piled up along the walls, in the cloister of the old Jesuit school, which nowadays hosts the Musée Archéologique de Nîmes (free entry, highly recommended!)