European Heritage Day
This 40th edition of the European Heritage Days will focus on "Living Heritage", a central theme for a site like the Pont du Gard. Visited all year round and the focus of much attention for its preservation, the Pont du Gard symbolises a living ecosystem of heritage and environment.
Guided tour
Take a trip to the top of the bridge to discover the multiple eternities of a bridge with multiple lives. How was this World Heritage monument built? How has it survived the ages? How did its history come down to us? The cultural mediator will take visitors on a spectacular journey through time to the top of the bridge, where they will cross the ancient canal where water flowed 2,000 years ago!
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September 2023
Times: 10:30 am / 11:00 am / 11:30 am / 12:00 pm / 2:30 pm / 3:00 pm / 3:30 pm / 4:00 pm
How to get there :
Visit free of charge. On the day of the visit, each participant collects 1 time-stamped ticket from the RG or RD reception desk.
Car park: €9.
Meeting point for visitors (only with a time-stamped ticket): in front of the door to the RG pipe staircase.
Demonstrations in the building trades (wood, stone, iron) with the Maison des Compagnons in Nîmes
Historic monuments can offer a wide range of fulfilling and sought-after trades to those with a passion for them.
From raw materials, stone, iron and wood can be shaped by the craftsman into monumental, architectural, vernacular or sculptural works.
But to achieve the dexterity of his gesture and the pleasure of the work, the craftsman often trains young. He or she learns, observes, draws, works again and again... to inherit ancestral know-how and techniques that can be developed in line with contemporary digital techniques.
To mark the 40th European Heritage Days dedicated to "Living Heritage", the Pont du Gard site, in partnership with the Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France, is offering visitors the chance to meet apprentice journeymen at the foot of the Pont du Gard, a stone giant if ever there was one, and discover a living process of living heritage.
Saturday 16 September 2023 (CANCEL)
Times: 10.30am to 12.30pm and 2.30pm to 5.30pm
Free entertainment - Pay car park: €9
Meet at the Croisées Rive Gauche du Site du Pont du Gard (100 metres before the Pont du Gard)
The sweet onion of Vers Pont du Gard
The sweet onion of Vers is an onion that is unique to our region.
This slightly pink onion can be recognised by its weight of between 500g and 1.8kg and its slightly sweet taste. It was grown by our ancestors in the allotment gardens of our region. The seeds were passed down from farmer to farmer. Unfortunately, with the decline in these food gardens, production had disappeared in our village.
In 2010, the desire to revive onion production led to the creation of a farmers' association and a door-to-door campaign among families in Versailles and Argilliers, which bore fruit - or rather, its seeds! Since then, the association's aim has been to promote and encourage the revival of the Vers Pont du Gard sweet onion and, in particular, its production.
Thanks to the seeds that were "found" and with the support of the Chamber of Agriculture, the association has already been able to select and multiply seeds. Today, with the help of the "Largillière" nursery and a handful of farmers, we can enjoy a fine production of onions that respect the environment and are of the highest quality.
The Vers Pont du Gard sweet onion association organises an annual festival of the Vers sweet onion so that as many people as possible can enjoy the product.
For its 2023 edition, and in view of the history of this onion, the Association and the Pont du Gard have joined forces to exhibit this local heritage during the European Heritage Days on 16 and 17 September at the Pont du Gard.
These days will be an opportunity to meet the producers and taste the onion, but that's not all. There will also be a market of local producers, the opportunity to have lunch on the spot, culinary demonstrations by chefs, producers of products processed around the onion, honey, essential oils, and so on,
We look forward to seeing you there to share a moment of culinary history at the Pont du Gard!
Saturday 16 (CANCEL) and Sunday 17 September 2023
Times: 9am to 6pm / croisés rive gauche
Access: paid parking €9
Free visit of the cultural areas
During the European Heritage Days, admission to the cultural areas (Museum - Ludo - Film - Temporary exhibition) is free.
Pay car park (€9)