Nîmes,

Nîmes, the capital of the French department of Gard, lies in a fertile plain, engirt by the vine-clad Cévennes, 31 miles by rail NE. of Montpellier and 30 SW. of Avignon. The old town, with narrow crooked streets, is separated by shady boulevards from the well-built faubourgs; and mediæval and modern edifices are a much mutilated cathedral, the prison (formerly citadel, 1687), the palais de justice, St Paul's (1850), St Baudile's (1875), &c., with a most magnificent fountain, and a monument (1874) to Antoninus Pius. But the glory of Nîmes is its Roman remains of the ancient Nemausus. These include the 'Maison Carrée' (now a museum, with Delaroche's masterpiece, 'Cromwell looking on Charles I.'s corpse'), a splendid specimen of Corinthian architecture; an amphitheatre (now a bull-arena), 70 feet high, and seating 20,000 spectators; the exquisite Nymphæum; a mausoleum ('La Tour magne'), baths, and two gates, whilst 14 miles NE. is the 'Pont du Gard,' most perfect of Aqueducts (q.v.). Nîmes is a seat of great commerce and manufactures, these comprising silk and cotton goods, carpets, shawls, wine, brandy, boots, &c. Pop. (1872) 60,020; (1891) 68,235, of whom one-third were Protestants. Supposed to have been colonised from Massilia (Marseilles), and the capital of the Volcæ Arecomici, Nîmes flourished under the Romans, and was one of the great cities of Gaul. It was taken by the Visigoths (465), the Franks (507), and the Saracens (725), and subsequently became an appanage of Aragon, but was finally restored to France by the treaty of Corbeil (1259). The inhabitants adopted Calvinism in the 16th century; and it was a stronghold of the Camisards (q.v.). In 1791 and 1815 it was the scene of bloody religious and political reactions. Nicot, Guizot, and Daudet were natives. See works by Ménard (7 vols. 1875), Perrot (11th ed. 1856), Durand (1876), and Pieyre (3 vols. 1888).