Victor Stanislas GRANGENT
1770-1843
Born in Pont-Saint-Esprit, Victor Stanislas Grangent became an Administrator at the Ponts et Chaussées civil engineering institute in 1789. For nearly 40 years, he developed the channels of communication in the Gard Department, had bridges and dykes built, dried out marshes and cooperated in the construction of the canal from Beaucaire to Aigues- Mortes.
His first publication, in 1799, was a comprehensive description of the Gard Department. He worked with Charles Durand and Simon Durant to publish the successful book Les monuments antiques du midi de la France (Ancient Monuments of the South of France).
Grangent informed the mayor of Nîmes as early as 1800 about the damage that had affected the Arena for many years.
Appointed as the curator of the monuments of Nîmes, the amphitheater was his first restoration project. He had the edifice progressively unearthed from its ruins, because the interior ground level was 6 to 7 m higher than originally. This work made it possible to get a general view of it and to study its details. He had many reparations done and consolidation work executed on the interior vaults, staircases, and seating areas, which were rebuilt to give an idea of the original state of the monument. The first part of this restoration work was completed between 1809 and 1812.
image © City of Nîmes
