Castellum Divisorium
Tucked down a narrow lane near the Porte d'Auguste, the Castellum Divisorium is one of only two surviving Roman water-distribution tanks in the world — a circular stone basin where the aqueduct water from the Pont du Gard was split into ten lead pipes and channelled across the entire city. Almost nobody visits it, which is precisely why you should.
How a Roman city got running water
The Pont du Gard aqueduct carried water 50 kilometres from the Fontaine d'Eure spring near Uzès to this unassuming basin on the northern edge of Nîmes. The tank is roughly 6 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres deep, with ten circular holes around its rim where lead pipes were inserted — each feeding a different district, public bath or fountain.
The engineering logic is elegant and completely legible even today: the holes are at slightly different heights, meaning that in times of shortage, lower-priority pipes (private houses) would run dry before the public fountains. The Romans built a social hierarchy directly into their plumbing.
Finding it and what to expect
The Castellum sits in a small, easily overlooked enclosure on Rue de la Lampèze, about 400 metres north of the Porte d'Auguste. There is no grand entrance — just a low iron gate and an information panel. Peer down into the basin and the ten outlet holes are clearly visible in the stone, still perfectly formed after 2,000 years.
Combine it with a walk along the surviving stretch of Roman city wall near the Porte d'Auguste (the best-preserved Roman gate in France) and you get a complete picture of Augustan Nîmes that most visitors completely miss.
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