Will this be the right one? Failed in 2018, Nîmes is once again submitting its candidacy to Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Five years earlier, the Roman city had tried to highlight its exceptional heritage, in vain. The arenas, the square house, the Magne tower, the gardens of the Fountain… These monuments had not touched the members of Unesco. The International Council of Monuments and Sites had questioned “the outstanding universal value” of the monuments present in the city.
The construction of the very modern museum of Romanism facing the arenas had also been singled out. Despite these warnings from this key report for Unesco, the prefecture of Gard had been at the end of its candidacy… for an announced failure. After having missed the train at the beginning of the 1980s, when Arles, the Pont du Gard or even the Palace of the Popes in Avignon had been labeled, Nîmes is running after lost time. The data has since changed. In order to rebalance the geographical origin of the sites, Unesco is much more picky about European applications.
Change of strategy after the failure of 2018
After its failure in 2018, the city has revised its copy by refocusing it on perhaps its most exceptional building: the square house, a temple from the first century AD. “Like all of Nîmes, I believe in [sa] exceptional value, says Mary Bourgade, assistant delegate for UNESCO registration and ancient heritage. It is one of our most beautiful monuments, its remarkable state of preservation makes it one of the most admirable Roman architectural masterpieces in the world”,
This new application, submitted in January 2022, now knows its timetable. Meeting in Paris earlier this week, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided that its next extended session will take place from September 10 to 25 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On this occasion, he will decide on the Nîmes file. “The countdown has started”, warns the mayor, Jean-Paul Fournier (LR).
“A symbol of peaceful coexistence”
“This square house is very impressive in its architecture, its restoration, its openness, its presence to the city and to the public, underlines Véronique Roger-Lacan, French ambassador to Unesco. Nîmes is a symbol of Roman pax, an empire that brought nations together. Peaceful coexistence and non-aggression between States is what UNESCO and the UN are trying to make the planet understand”.
