Tour Magne, Nîmes, France - SpottingHistory.com

The Tour Magne, or the Great Tower, is the only remnant of the ancient Augustan fortifications. Standing at the highest point of the Nïmes, Mont Cavalier, it overlooks the entire plain and is a focal point for all means of communication.

The tower was originally a dry-stone oval tower, with a maximum height of 18m and already part of a rampart. A structure that was both prestigious and strategic, it represented sanctuary and protected the oppidum. By doubling its height and incorporating it into the town walls, Augustus demonstrated the new power of the colony of Nîmes over the 'City' (in the territorial sense) of the Volcae. When the town’s population abandoned the higher ground, the Tour Magne nevertheless continued to play a military role. It was used to defend against the English during the Hundred Years’ War.

References:

arenes-nimes.com

User Reviews

Cpt. JoJo (20 months ago)
Good place to visit if you are in the city. You are not going here primary due this but if you are already here you should walk in the park and this is perfect ending point of your walk. The ticket to the top can be bought together with some another sightseeing in the Nimes so may be better to think about bit when you will go there.

Toma Nicodin (20 months ago)
In few words • Take a small hike to see the building and admire the outside. Inside is not worth that much; expensive unless you get the 4 monument pass. The views are ok, but not impressive.

M.A. Garcias (21 months ago)
Beautiful place with an astounding view of the city. Worth the 15 minute walk up the steep road and climbing the vertigo-inducing steps to the top.

Taha Javaid (2 years ago)
A lot of stairs to go up but the view from the above is simply magnificent. This tower is one of the many that used to form a wall around the city. It's the only one left.

Camille Murphy (2 years ago)
Good value as part of the Nimes Pass but not by itself. It offers good views of Avignon. It's a bit of a hike to get up there through the park, and then in the tower itself you need to go up three flights of narrow stairs with people going both directions. Definitely not for unfit people or those with mobility issues. Going down the stairs can be slippery, so be careful!

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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