The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, an iconic Roman temple, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site | EUROtoday
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The monument, constructed 2,000 years in the past, turned the 51st this Mondaye French website included on the UNESCO world heritage listing.
By VD with AFP
© MiKAEL ANISSET / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/LE MIDI LIBRE/MAXPPP
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LThe Maison Carrée of Nîmes, a Roman temple constructed at first of our period, was listed on Monday as a UNESCO world heritage website, a recognition hoped for for years within the former Roman colony within the south of France, which is awaiting recognition. vital financial advantages. It solely took a jiffy for representatives of UNESCO member states assembly in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to validate the file for this completely preserved two-thousand-year-old temple, which subsequently joins the celebrated listing established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“We will be worthy of this decision. The Maison Carrée, dear to the inhabitants of Nîmes and the citizens of the French Republic, is now a common good of all the United Nations,” declared from Riyadh the mayor of Nîmes, Jean-Paul Fournier, overwhelmed by emotion and tears. “The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, built at the beginning of the 1er century AD, represents one of the oldest expressions, and among the best preserved, of a Roman temple dedicated to imperial worship”, underlined Roselyne Bachelot, then Minister of Culture, in early 2022, when announcing this candidacy.
An increase in tourist numbers
During this 45e session of the world heritage committee, France had already obtained on Saturday the registration of Mount Pelée and the peaks of northern Martinique as a UNESCO world heritage site. A former Roman colony which reached its peak under Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, Nîmes was an important commercial and cultural crossroads. It retains imposing ancient buildings, including arenas where shows and concerts still take place.
Unlike its neighbor Arles, which also has a Roman amphitheater as well as thermal baths and an ancient theater, or the Pont du Gard aqueduct, Nîmes missed the boat of recognition by Unesco around forty years ago. ‘years. In 2018, the city finally presented itself, hoping for recognition of the exceptional character of all of its Roman sites. But the decision was “deferred”, the specialists not having appreciated the presence within the quick neighborhood of fashionable monuments.
Nîmes then refocused its software on the Maison Carrée, reopened to the general public final yr after renovation. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes is quantity 51e French property registered on the UNESCO listing. “This decision constitutes the long-awaited recognition of the ancient heritage riches of which the city of Nîmes abounds. It rewards years of work,” reacted Mary Bourgade, deputy mayor accountable particularly for historical heritage, quoted in a press launch. According to the municipality, the world heritage itemizing will “generate an increase in tourist numbers” and might be a “real growth lever for the city”, with “significant economic benefits”.
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/la-maison-carree-de-nimes-un-temple-romain-iconique-inscrite-au-patrimoine-mondial-de-l-unesco-18-09-2023-2535928_23.php#xtor=RSS-221