Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; "Saint-Rémy of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

"; Provençal: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' ) is a commune in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. It is often referred to simply as Saint-Rémy, its official name until 12 April 1953. Located in the northern part of the

Alpilles The Alpilles ( , ) is a small range of low mountains in Provence, southern France, located about south of Avignon. Geography The range is an extension of the much larger Luberon range. Although it is not high – some 498 m (1,634 ft) ...

, of which it is the main town, it had a population of 9,692 as of 2020.

History

The town, which has been inhabited since

prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

, was named after Saint Remigius under the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name ''Villa Sancti Remigii''. From May 1889 to May 1890,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

was a patient at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and painted some of his most memorable works, including '' The Starry Night'', which features the town.

Geography

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is situated about south of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, just north of the

mountain range.

Transportation

The Avignon TGV high-speed train station is from the city. The closest airports are serving the cities of Avignon, Nîmes and Marseille. Also, there are several highways and main roads which serve Saint-Rémy. The

A7 autoroute The A7 Autoroutes of France, Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Soleil (English: the Motorway of the Sun) is a French motorway. It continues the A6 autoroute (France), A6 and links Lyon to Marseille. The autoroute du Soleil is long and fo ...

, which runs down the Valley of the Rhône and connects Lyon to Marseille via Orange, is about east of Saint-Rémy. The A54 autoroute runs from Nîmes to Salon-de-Provence, passing through Arles, away. Finally, the A9 autoroute is 20 km to the northwest and runs from Orange to Perpignan via Montpellier.

Climate

The climate in the Alpilles is considered Mediterranean. Winters there are gentle and dry, and summers are hot and dry. The highest average temperature is recorded in July and August , and the lowest in December and January . The rainiest month is January with an average of 7 rainy days, compared with July, the driest month, with an average of 2 rainy days. The Alpilles region receives more precipitation than the French Rivera, 1–2 cm more per year. There are about 30 days of frost per year. Snow is rare, but can be heavy when it does fall.

Demographics

Sights

The ruins of the Roman city of Glanum, including a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

, can still be seen on the southern outskirts of the city. The Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is where

was a patient, from May 1889 to May 1890, and where he painted some of his most memorable works, including The Starry Night which features the town. The site is now named the Clinique Van Gogh for him.

Notable people

* Pierre Daboval (1918–2015), artist, lived for many years in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence * Marie Gasquet, a Provençale novelist and queen of the Felibrige *

, from May 1889 to May 1890, the famous Dutch painter was admitted to the Saint-Paul psychiatric hospital in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. He painted several paintings, including Starry Night. * Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire, (1670–1739), French army officer and interpreter in New France * Princess Caroline of Monaco and her children lived in Saint-Rémy for several years following the death of her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi * Pablo Daniel Magee, writer, journalist and playwright grew up in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence *

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

, a 16th-century author of prophecies

Twin towns

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is twinned with: * Pfarrkirchen * Bientina

References

External links

Saint Rémy de Provence Tourist office website

Official site
(in French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintremydeprovence Communes of Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia