As the French city bids for Unesco heritage status, the stylish Musée de la Romanité shows off the extensive treasures of Roman Nîmes

Nîmes’ spectacular Musée de la Romanité will open on 2 June in a €59.5m complex next to the city’s equally imposing 20,000-seat Arènes de Nîmes – an amphitheatre used for events such as the recent Great Roman Games.

The new museum, which will have free admission during its opening weekend, was designed by Brazilian-born architect Elizabeth de Portzamparc, who has incorporated waxed concrete, aluminium, wood and glass into the three giant rectangular buildings, the largest of which is swathed in a toga of glass tiles and is in front of the Roman amphitheatre.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The museum’s facade. Photograph: Serge Urvoy

Portzamparc sees the museum as a “Citizenof Nîmes” wrapped in its own toga. The folds and gaps in the “fabric”, formed by 7,000 angled, silkscreened glass tiles, are a dramatic visual motif and also work as a peep-hole into and out from the museum. Climbers will make maintenance checks on each tile every three months.

The opening of the Romanity museum comes at a key time as the city has applied to be listed as a Unesco world heritage site. The final decision will be made at the end of June. Daniel-Jean Valade, Nîmes’ cultural attache, believes tourist numbers would increase by 30% if Nîmes joins the list. The museum hopes to attract around 250,000 visitors per year and its first temporary exhibition, Gladiators, heroes of the Colosseum, will run from its opening until 24