La Valette Boutique
Sanilhac-Sagriès, 30700 Gard, France
A Roman bridge so completely built over that most visitors walk across it without realising, a Saturday market older than most European nations, and a river with a name for its own floods. About forty minutes from Uzès.
Sommières is a medieval market town about forty minutes from La Valette Boutique, built directly on top of a Roman bridge, the Pont Tibère, over the Vidourle river. At roughly 190 metres, it is the longest Roman bridge still standing in France, and one of only a handful in Europe still inhabited: six of its arches were sealed centuries ago and houses built onto and into them, so the bridge itself disappears beneath the streets of the old town. Above ground, Sommières keeps a genuinely local Saturday market dating back to the thirteenth century, and a nickname, 'vidourlade', for the sudden, sometimes violent floods the Vidourle is known for.
| Location | Sommières, Gard |
|---|---|
| Region | Occitanie |
| Heritage status | Pont Tibère listed as a monument historique in 2025; not UNESCO-listed |
| Distance from Uzès | 41 km · about 42 min by car |
| Nearest airport | Nîmes (FNI), about 30 min |
| Typical visit | Two to three hours, longer on market day |
| Known for | The longest inhabited Roman bridge still standing in France |
| Market day | Saturday morning, tradition since the 13th century |
| Local term | 'Vidourlade', a sudden flood of the Vidourle river |
Forty minutes from home
We had read that Sommières was built on a Roman bridge, and still did not see it until it was pointed out. Walking Rue du Pont Romain, you are standing directly above the second-longest-surviving Roman bridge in France, and unless you know to look for the sealed arches in the building fronts, it simply looks like an ordinary street.
The Saturday market is the other half of the town's character: unpretentious, genuinely local, spreading through the old streets rather than staged in a single square, and running in some form since the thirteenth century. Between the hidden Roman engineering underfoot and the working market overhead, Sommières felt less like a sight to visit and more like a town that happens to have an extraordinary history.
The town's own tourist office site carries current information on market days, guided tours of the bridge's visible sections, and any river conditions worth knowing before a visit. We recommend checking it, particularly after heavy rain given the Vidourle's flood history.
What it is
The Pont Tibère was built across the Vidourle between roughly the first century BC and first century AD, on the route of the via Luteva linking Nîmes to Toulouse via Lodève, distinct from the via Domitia, which crossed the same river further south at Ambrussum. Despite its popular name, its construction likely predates the emperor Tiberius, dating instead from the Augustan period; the Tiberius link is tradition rather than confirmed history.
At roughly 190 metres, it is the longest Roman bridge still standing in France. Six of its arches were sealed off centuries ago and houses built directly onto and over them, so that much of the original structure now survives hidden in the cellars of buildings along the old Faubourg Marx Dormoy and Place Jean-Jaurès. The full bridge was registered as a monument historique in March 2025, after a process that began in 2018.
"Standing in an ordinary-looking street in the old town, told that the Roman arches are still there beneath the cellar floor, is the closest we have come nearby to a genuinely hidden monument."La Valette Boutique, about 42 min away
Beyond the basics
When to go
Sommières works well most of the year, but the day of the week and the season both change the experience meaningfully.
The weekly market fills the old streets from early morning, the single best time to see the town at its most genuinely local and lived-in.
Comfortable temperatures for walking the old town, without peak summer heat, and generally lower flood risk than the autumn storm season proper.
The Vidourle can rise fast and unpredictably after intense regional storms. Check conditions if there has been significant recent rainfall.
Practical information
Full day combinations
Arrive for the Saturday market, spend the morning in the old streets, then walk the riverbank for the clearest view of the Roman bridge.
A short day: Sommières in the morning, back to Uzès for lunch and an afternoon in the old town, about forty minutes between the two.
Combine Sommières with the Pont du Gard, comparing two very different Roman river crossings, one buried in a town, one standing alone in the countryside.
Visit on a weekday for the emptiest streets and the best chance of finding the sealed Roman arches without a crowd nearby.
Yes, particularly if the buried Roman bridge and a genuine local market appeal more than a headline monument. It is about forty minutes by car, workable as a half-day trip, especially on a Saturday.
About 41 km, roughly forty-two minutes by car.
Only partially. Most of the Pont Tibère is built over and absorbed into the town, with sealed arches visible in some building fronts. The clearest view of the surviving structure is from the Vidourle riverbank.
Probably not. Recent analysis suggests the bridge predates Tiberius and dates from the Augustan period instead; the Tiberius attribution reflects popular tradition rather than confirmed history.
A sudden, sometimes severe flood of the Vidourle river, a term recognised by the Académie Française. The most dramatic recent example, in September 2002, saw the river rise eight metres in a few hours.
Every Saturday morning, a tradition dating back to the thirteenth century, spreading through the old town's streets and squares.
La Valette Boutique is in the Gard, about forty minutes from Sommières, five minutes from Uzès. Two boutique apartments in an 18th-century stone house.
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