Nîmes (/niːm/ NEEM, French: [nim] ⓘ; Occitan: Nimes [ˈnimes]; Latin: Nemausus) is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France.

Nimes is situated where the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River abuts the hills of Mont Duplan to the northeast, Montaury to the southwest, and to the west Mt.

Strabo, the Greek geographer, mentioned that this town functioned as the regional capital for the Volcae Arecomici, a Celtic people.

[12] In 123 BCE the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus campaigned against Gallic tribes in the area and defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni, while the Volcae offered no resistance.

Nîmes became a Roman colony as Colonia Nemausus sometime before 28 BCE, as witnessed by the earliest coins, which bear the abbreviation NEM.

[14] Veterans of Julius Caesar's legions in his Nile campaigns were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes.

Dedicated to Roma and Augustus, it bears striking resemblance to Rome's Temple of Portunus, blending Etruscan and Greek design influences.

The museum contains many fine objects including mosaic floors, frescoes and sculpture from rich houses and buildings found in excavations in and near the city.

When the Visigoths were accepted into the Roman Empire, Nîmes was included in their territory in 472, even after the Frankish victory at the Battle of Vouillé (507).

In 736–737, Charles Martel and his brother led an expedition to Septimania and Provence, and largely destroyed the city (in the hands of Umayyads allied with the local Gallo-Roman and Gothic nobility), including the amphitheatre, thereafter heading back north.

After the last effort by Raymond VII of Toulouse, St. Louis managed to establish royal power in the region which became Languedoc.

During the 14th and 15th centuries the Rhone Valley underwent an uninterrupted series of invasions which ruined the economy and caused famine.

[citation needed] Customs were forgotten, religious troubles developed (see French Wars of Religion) and epidemics, all of which affected the city.

Nîmes, which was one of the Protestant strongholds, felt the full force of repression and fratricidal confrontations (including the Michelade massacre) which continued until the middle of the 17th century, adding to the misery of periodic outbreaks of plague.

In this same period the Fountain gardens, the Quais de la Fontaine, were laid out, the areas surrounding the Maison Carrée and the Amphitheatre were cleared of encroachments, whilst the entire population benefited from the atmosphere of prosperity.

Following a European economic crisis that hit Nîmes with full force, the Revolutionary period awoke the slumbering demons of political and religious antagonism.

The White Terror added to natural calamities and economic recession, produced murder, pillage and arson until 1815.

During the Second World War, the Maquis resistance fighters Jean Robert and Vinicio Faïta were executed at Nîmes on 22 April 1943.

[21] The 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie (2ºREI), the main motorised infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion, has been garrisoned in Nîmes since November 1983.

Its slightly inland, southerly location results in hot air over the city during summer months: temperatures above 34 °C are common in July and August, whereas winters are cool but not cold.

[citation needed] Denim, the fabric of blue jeans, derives its name from this city (Serge de Nîmes).

The station is also located on the existing route between Nìmes and Avignon, thus providing connections between the new line and local rail service.