Castellum Aquae — Attraction in Nîmes

The English translation: "Water Castle". Although it was known from the texts, it is a rare vestige of this type. Its function was to distribute water to the city. This water was supplied by a 50 km long aqueduct built in the middle of the 1st century A.D. (Augustan period). In times of drought, it guaranteed the security of the water supply and facilitated the evacuation of the city's wastewater. It is known to have been filled in during the construction of the citadel in 1688 and was not rediscovered until 1844 by a private individual who immediately set about uncovering it. There is no entrance fee, you can see it from...

The Castellum Aquae of Nîmes was used to redistribute water from the Eure springs brought in by the aqueduct, whose best-known section is the Pont du Gard. Its flow rate has allowed a supply of 1,400 liters (370 gallons) of water per day per inhabitant (today, we each consume 150 liters daily (40 gallons!). The city’s fountains were served first, followed by public buildings (notably but not exclusively the baths) and some private houses. A threshold was set in case of drought in favor of the most...

The place itself isn't much but if you are a bit of a Roman nerd then you would appreciate how cool this place is. This is where the water entered the city after traveling for almost 100km via aqueducts including the pont du garde. This building distributed the water via different pipes with different uses, like drinking water and sewage water. The engineering behind it requires its own...