Arles - 2017-05-24 - Roman Amphitheatre - 3804

Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of Provence.

A large part of the Camargue, the largest wetlands in France, is located on the territory of the commune, making it the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of geographic territory.
(Maripasoula, French Guiana, is much larger than Arles). The city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981 for their testimony to the history of the region.

Many artists have lived and worked in this area because of the southern light, including Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Jacques Réattu, and Peter Brown. The Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889, and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. These are in internationally known museums and private collections around the world. An international photography festival has been held annually in the city since 1970.

Name

The settlement is attested as ''Arelate'' in the mid-1st century BC (Caesar), ''Areláte'' (Ἀρελάτε) in the early 1st c. AD (Strabo), ''Arlate civitas'' in 954, and ''Arle'' in the 13th century. The toponym ''Arelate'' is a Latinized form of the Gaulish *''Arelati'', meaning 'by the marsh', or 'in front of the marsh'.

Geography

The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta. Because the Camargue is for a large part administratively part of Arles, the commune as a whole is the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of territory. But its population numbers only slightly more than 50,000. Its area is , which is more than seven times the area of Paris.

History

Ancient era

The Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later Celtic influences have also been discovered. The city became an important Phoenician trading port, before it was taken over by the Romans.

The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city. They built a canal link to the Mediterranean Sea in 104 BC. Arles had to compete with Massalia (Marseille) further along the coast.

Arles' leaders sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, 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 for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI ''Ferrata'', which had its base there. Its full title as a colony was ''Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum'', "the ancestral Julian colony of Arles of the soldiers of the Sixth."

Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. It covered an area of some and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, theatre, and a full circuit of walls. Ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. The river has carried centuries of silt that has filled in the former harbor. The city had (and still has) the southernmost bridge on the Rhône.

The recently discovered republican House of the Harpist is an exceptional example of ancient architecture and interior decoration. Dating from 70-50BC, it has yielded elaborate frescoes.

The Roman bridge was unique in that it 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 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 Europe. 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). At that time, the city was home to an estimated 75,000–100,000 people.

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 declared himself emperor in the West (407–411) and made Arles his capital in 408.

Arles became renowned as a cultural and religious centre during the late Roman Empire. It was the birthplace of Favorinus, known as the sceptical philosopher. It was also a key location for Roman Christianity and an important base for the Christianization of Gaul. The city's bishopric was held by a series of outstanding clerics, beginning with Saint Trophimus around 225 and continuing with Saint Honoratus, then Saint Hilarius 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. Suspected by the Arian Visigoth Alaric II of conspiring with the Burgundians to turn over the Arelate to Burgundy, he was exiled for a year to Bordeaux in Aquitaine. Political tensions were evident 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 king.

The 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 executed 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. It hosted church councils (see Council of Arles), the rival of Vienne

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