Pont du Gard Colouring

The Pont du Gard is a mighty Roman bridge-aqueduct in southern France. It crosses the Gardon River and formed part of a water system nearly 50 kilometres long that carried spring water from near Uzès to ancient Nemausus, now Nîmes. The aqueduct was built around the middle of the first century CE, probably during the reign of Claudius or Nero. Water travelled by gravity along an extremely gentle slope, dropping only about 25 centimetres per kilometre. At its best, the system could deliver roughly 30,000 to 40,000 cubic metres of water each day for fountains, baths, homes and cleaner streets. It served Nîmes for about five centuries. At almost 49 metres high, the Pont du Gard is the tallest surviving Roman aqueduct bridge. Three rows of arches stand one above another. The lowest level has six huge arches, the middle level has eleven, and the top originally had forty-seven smaller arches carrying the covered water channel. Roman builders shaped and fitted enormous limestone blocks with remarkable accuracy. The bridge shows how repeating arches can spread weight safely while leaving wide openings for a river and floodwater. It is also the only ancient three-storey bridge of its kind still standing so completely. Colour the limestone with warm cream, pale gold, sandy beige and light ochre. Use a slightly darker tan around the curved edges of each arch, but keep the centres open and bright. You can make a few individual blocks peach or soft grey so children can see how the bridge was assembled. Colour the river light blue, turquoise or blue-green, leaving white gaps for sparkling ripples. The rocky banks may be grey, brown and rust, while the reeds and tree can use olive, leaf green and yellow-green. Make the distant hills paler than the foreground to show that they are far away. Follow each arch with smooth curved strokes, use short strokes on stone blocks and long side-to-side strokes on the water. Count the three levels as you colour them. Keeping each row a little different will make the engineering lesson clear: giant arches below, medium arches in the middle and a long line of small arches at the top carrying water toward Nîmes.

◫ A4 size✎ Bold outlines♡ Ages 3–8

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Grown-up note: Please supervise printing and choose age-appropriate art materials.