Sunday, 10 October. The ship left Avignon during
the night and arrived in Arles about 8:30 a.m. We started a walking tour of the
old city at 9:00. The streets were still wet from an early morning rain, but it
was going to be a pretty day. Just inside the old city walls, we passed a pretty
fountain built into the wall of a building. Continuing down the narrow streets,
we caught our first glimpse of the old Roman amphitheater (c. 90 A.D.). Even
though the claimed capacity was 20,000 spectators, it was much smaller than
L'Arena in Verona where we had lived for almost four years. Since 1830 the Arles
amphitheater has been used for bull fights. (We were surprised to learn that
there were bull fights in France.)
Gate in Arles city walls |
Fountain in building wall |
First glimpse of Arles arena |
Arles amphitheater (or arena) |
Inside of amphitheater |
Bullfight poster for Arles
Arena |
A short distance after we passed the
amphitheater, we came to the Roman theater, probably built shortly before the
amphitheater, and with a claimed capacity of 10,000. It was destroyed by the
Visigoths in 480 and little remains other than the bowl where the seats had been
and two columns.
Entrance to Roman theater |
Aerial view of theater &
amphitheater |
Roman theater (modern seats) |
The guide led the group through the quaint, old streets
to the Place de La Republique, site of the Hotel de Ville and St. Trompine
Cathedral. From there we continued on to the Hospital of Arles and into its
courtyard garden. Van Gogh lived in Arles for 15 months (1888-1889) and was much
taken with its beauty, creating more than 200 paintings here. He stayed in the
hospital for a time and painted this very garden (La Jardin de la Maison de Sant
a Arles).
Street in Arles |
Decorated window |
La Jardin de la Maison de Sant
a Arles |
Our next stop was the Arleten Museum, built around Roman ruins
but featuring the culture of Provence. Just around the corner, we stopped
briefly at the small baroque Chapelle des Jesuites.We continued on through the
Place du Forum, as the name indicates, once the site of the Roman Forum.
Chapelle des Jesuites |
Arleten Museum |
Place du Forum |
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