Arles ( ; Provençal Occitan: Arle in both
classical and Mistralian norms) is a city in
the south of France, in the
Bouches-du-Rhône department, of
which it is a subprefecture, in the former
province of Provence.
Rhône river forks into two branches
just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta.
Because the Camargue is
administratively part of Arles, the commune as a whole is the
in Metropolitan France
in terms of
territory, although its population is only slightly more than
50,000. Its area is , which is more than seven times
the area of Paris.
- For the Ecclesiastical history see Archbishopric of Arles
Arles was established by the Greeks
as early as the 6th century BC under the name of Theline
It was captured by the Celtic Salluvii
in 535 BC, who renamed it to
. The Romans took
the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, with a
canal link to the Mediterranean Sea being constructed in 104 BC.
struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia
(Marseille) further along the coast.
Its chance came when it sided with Julius
, providing military
support. Massalia backed Pompey; when Caesar emerged victorious,
Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to
Arelate as a reward. The town was formally established as a colony
of the Roman legion Legio
, which had its base there. Its full title
as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium
, "the ancestral Julian colony of Arles of the
soldiers of the Sixth."
Roman Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province
of Gallia Narbonensis
an area of some 99 acres (400,000 m²) and possessed a number of
monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal
arch, Roman circus, theatre, and a full circuit of
Ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now
and served as a major port. It also had (and still has) the
southernmost bridge on the Rhone. Very unusually, the Roman bridge
was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats
, with towers and drawbridges
at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were
tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge. This
unusual design was a way of coping with the river's frequent
violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional
bridge. Nothing now remains of the Roman bridge, which has been
replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot.
The city reached a peak of influence during the 4th and 5th
centuries, when Roman Emperors
frequently used it as their headquarters during military campaigns.
In 395 it
became the seat of the Praetorian Prefecture
of the Gauls, governing the western part of the
Western Empire: Gaul proper plus Hispania
(Spain) and Armorica (Brittany).
It became a favorite city of Emperor Constantine I
, who built baths
there, substantial remains of which are still
standing. His son, Constantine II
, was born
in Arles. Usurper Constantine III
emperor in the West (407–411) and made Arles his capital in
Arles became renowned as a cultural and religious centre during the
late Roman Empire. It was the birthplace of the sceptical
. It was also a key
location for Roman Christianity and an important base for the
of Gaul. The
was held by a series of
outstanding clerics, beginning with Saint Trophimus
around 225 and continuing
with Saint Honoré, then Saint Hilary
in the first half of the 5th century. The political tension
between the Catholic bishops of Arles and the Visigothic kings is epitomized in the career of
the Frankish St Caesarius, bishop of
Arles 503–542, who was suspected by the Arian Visigoth Alaric II
of conspiring with the Burgundians to
turn over the Arelate to Burgundy, and was exiled for a year to
Bordeaux in Aquitaine, and again in 512 when Arles held out against
Theodoric the Great, Caesarius
was imprisoned and sent to Ravenna to explain
his actions before the Ostrogothic
friction between the Arian Christianity of the Visigoths and the Catholicism of the bishops sent
out from Rome established
deep roots for religious heterodoxy, even
heresy, in Occitan
culture. At Treves in 385,
Priscillian achieved the distinction of
becoming the first Christian burned alive for heresy (Manichaean in his
case, see also Cathars, Camisards). Despite this tension and the city's
decline in the face of barbarian
invasions, Arles remained a great religious centre and host of
church councils (see Council of
Arles), the rival of Vienne, for hundreds of years.
Cloister of Saint Trophimus.
Arles was badly affected by the invasion of Provence
by the Muslim
and the Franks
, who took control of the region in the 8th
century. In 855 it was made the capital of a Frankish Kingdom of Arles
, which included Burgundy
and part of Provence, but was
frequently terrorised by Saracen and Viking
raiders. In 888, Rodolphe, Count of Auxerre (now in north-western Burgundy), founded the
kingdom of Bourgogne
Transjurane (literally, beyond the Jura mountains), which
included western Switzerland as far as the river Reuss, Valais, Geneva, Chablais and Bugey.
In 933, Hugh of Arles
Provence") gave his kingdom up to Rodolphe II, who merged the two
kingdoms into a new Kingdom of Arles. In 1032, King Rodolphe III
died, and the Kingdom was inherited
by Emperor Conrad II
the Salic. Though his successors counted themselves kings of Arles,
few went to be crowned in the cathedral. Most of the territory of
the Kingdom was progressively incorporated into France.
these troubled times, the amphitheatre was converted into a fortress, with watchtowers
built at each of the four quadrants and a minuscule walled town being constructed within.
population was by now only a fraction of what it had been in Roman
times, with much of old Arles lying in ruins.
The town regained political and economic prominence in the 12th
century, with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
traveling there in
1178 for his coronation. In the 12th century, it became a free city
governed by an elected podestat
(chief magistrate; literally "power"), who appointed the consuls
and other magistrates. It retained this
status until the French Revolution
Arles joined the countship of Provence in 1239 but suffered its
prominence being eclipsed once more by Marseille. In 1378, the Holy
Roman Emperor Charles
ceded the remnants of the Kingdom of Arles to the Dauphin of France
(later King Charles VI of France
) and the Kingdom
ceased to exist even on paper.
Place de la République
Arles remained economically important for many years as a major
port on the Rhône. The arrival of the railway in the 19th century
eventually killed off much of the river trade, leading to the town
becoming something of a backwater.
This made it an attractive destination for the painter Vincent van Gogh
, who arrived there on 21
February 1888. He was fascinated by the Provençal landscapes,
producing over 300 paintings and drawings during his time in Arles.
Many of his most famous paintings were completed there, including
The Night Cafe
, Starry Night Over the
, and L'Arlésienne
. Paul Gauguin
visited van Gogh in Arles.
However, van Gogh's mental health deteriorated and he became
alarmingly eccentric, culminating in the infamous ear-severing
incident in December 1888. The concerned Arlesians circulated a
petition the following February demanding that van Gogh be
confined. In May 1889 he took the hint and left Arles
for the asylum at nearby Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
Arles has important remains of Roman times, which have been listed
as World Heritage Sites
1981. They include:
St. Trophime (Saint
Trophimus), formerly a cathedral, is a
major work of Romanesque
architecture, and the representation of the Last Judgment on its portal is considered one
of the finest examples of Romanesque sculpture, as are the columns
in the adjacent cloister.
also has an outstanding museum of ancient history, the Musée de l'Arles et de la Provence
antiques, with one of the best collections of Roman sarcophagi to be found anywhere outside Rome
Capital of column in St. Trophime
Another museum is the Museon Arlaten
. However, perhaps surprisingly
given the town's importance to van Gogh, none of his works are on
display in Arles.
In September-October 2007 divers led by Luc Long from the French
Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, headed by Michel
L'Hour, discovered a life-sized marble bust of an apparently
important Roman person in the Rhone
near Arles, together with smaller statues of Marsyas
in Hellenistic style and of the god Neptune
from the third century AD. The
larger bust was tentatively dated to 46 BC. Since the bust
displayed several characteristics of an ageing person with
wrinkles, deep naso-labial creases and hollows in his face, and
since the archaeologists believed that Julius Caesar
had founded the colony
Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelate Sextanorum
in 46 BC, the
scientists came to the preliminary conclusion that the bust
depicted a life-portrait of the Roman dictator: France's Minister
of Culture Christine Albanel
reported on May 13, 2008, that the bust would be the oldest
representation of Caesar known today. The story was picked up by
all larger media outlets. The realism of the portrait was said to
place it in the tradition of late Republican portrait and genre
sculptures. The archaeologists further claimed that a bust of
Julius Caesar might have been thrown away or discreetly disposed
of, because Caesar's portraits could have been viewed as
politically dangerous possessions after the dictator's
Historians and archaeologists not affiliated with the French
administration, among them the renowned archaeologist and expert on
Caesar and Augustus
Paul Zanker, were quick
to question whether the bust is a portrait of Caesar. Many noted the lack
of resemblances to Caesar's likenesses issued on coins during the
last years of the dictator's life, and to the Tusculum bust of Caesar, which depicts Julius Caesar in his
lifetime, either as a so-called zeitgesicht or as a direct
After a further stylistic assessment Zanker dated
the Arles-bust to the Augustan period. Elkins argued for the third
century AD as the terminus post quem
for the deposition of
the statues, refuting the claim that the bust was thrown away due
to feared repercussions from Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. The
main argument by the French archaeologists that Caesar had founded
the colony in 46 BC proved to be incorrect, as the colony was
founded by Caesar's former quaestor
Tiberius Claudius Nero
dictator's orders in his absence. Mary Beard has accused the
persons involved in the find to have wilfully invented their claims
for publicity reasons. The French ministry of culture has not yet
responded to the criticism and negative reviews.
is an amateur French football
team. They will compete in Ligue 2
2009-2010 season, having gained promotion from the Championnat National
in the 2008-2009
season. They play at the Stade Fernand Fournier, which has a
capacity of 2500.
Image:Place_de_la_Republique_Arles.JPG|Place de la
RepubliqueImage:sttrophimeportal.png|Portal of Saint Trophimus
cathedral.Image:Alyscamps van gogh.jpg|Les Alyscamps, Falling
, Vincent van
, 1888.Image:Arlesmarketgarlicstand.jpg|Garlic stand in the
Arles street market.Image:ArlesiensInCostume.jpg|Arlésiennes in
costume.Image:arlesviewwithrhone.png|View of the city center, with
the Rhone in the background.Image:arlesarena.jpg|Roman arena,
inside view.Image:Arlesmarketspicestand.jpg|Spice stand in the
Arles street market.Image:arlesarenes.png|Arles
amphitheatreImage:Arles-PlaceDuForum.jpg|The Place Du Forum in
(citizens of Arles) were noted for
distinctive traditional dress which is now worn publicly at certain
festivals and occasions.
A famous photography
place in Arles every year, and the French national school of
photography is located there. The major French publishing house
is also situated in Arles.
The film Ronin
filmed in Arles.
Bull fight are conducted in the amphitheatre, including Provencal-style bullfights (courses
camarguaises) in which the bull is not killed but rather a
team of athletic men attempt to remove a tassle from the bull's
horn without getting injured.
Every Easter and on the first
weekend of September, Arles also holds Spanish-style corridas
(in which the bulls are
killed) with an encierro
(bull-running in the streets) preceding each fight.
Arles's open-air street market is a major market in the region. It
occurs on Saturday and Wednesday mornings.
- The Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was
born near Arles.
- Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), the
oldest human being whose age is
documented, was born, lived and died, at the age of 122 years and
164 days, in Arles.
- Anne-Marie David, singer
(Eurovision winner in 1973)
- Christian Lacroix, fashion
designer, was born in Arles.
- Djibril Cissé, footballer for
[Panathinaikos] and France
- Genesius of Arles, a notary martyred
under Maximianus in 303 or 308.
- Juan Bautista, matador.
- Mehdi Savalli, matador.
- The medieval writer Antoine de la
Sale was probably born in Arles around 1386.
- Home of the Gipsy Kings, a music
group from Arles.
Twin towns — Sister cities
Arles is twinned
- Pskov, Russia
- Jerez de la
- Fulda, Germany
- York, Pennsylvania, USA
- Cubelles, Spain
- Vercelli, Italy
- Sagné, Mauritania
- Kalymnos, Greece
- Wisbech, United
- Zhouzhuang, China
- Verviers, Belgium
Sources and external links