Oppidum des Castels

The Oppidum des Castels, also known as the Oppidum de Nages, is an Iron Age fortified settlement on a hilltop overlooking the Vaunage valley in Gard, France. Built by the Volques Arecomiques, a Celtic people from the Danube region, the 12-hectare site was occupied from about 300 BC to 50 BC. It features four successive fortifications with towers, a planned urban layout of 25 parallel elongated plots, and a fanum (Gallic temple) dating to 70 BC. Excavated and partially restored between 1958 and 1974 by archaeologist Michel Py, it is among the best-preserved pre-Roman sites in southern France.