 |
| Details of the amphitheater |
Arles is an old Roman town almost at the mouth of the Rhone
River. It was an important settlement, outpost, and trading center. Now, it’s
still a Roman town, with the Colosseum in use for sporting events and concerts.
The old amphitheater is an outdoor museum and though the Forum buildings are
gone,
its large open courtyard is the center plaza of the town.
The horse race track has been paved over by a road, but the
center parts of it are still visible in the open field in front of the
archaeological museum. The small inner city is surrounded for the most part by
the original Roman walls. You must pass through gates to enter, and some are
just barely wide enough for the small European cars. There’s a lot of car paint
on the walls and corners of the gates.
We stayed in Avignon for a week, and on Sunday decided to
take the local regional train to Arles. With a late start we didn’t see as much
of the old city as we’d like. However, since it was the first Sunday of the
month, all the museums were free! It was such a small city that we crossed it,
from museum to train station, in less than 25 minutes, hoofing it to catch the
last train.
 |
| The courtyard of the mental hospital |
Arles is also known as the last place where Vincent Van Gogh
lived and painted. He worked prolifically, creating over 200 paintings. Today
there is an entire society devoted to him. The members have placed a copy of
each painting at the spot where he probably stood to paint it. There are dozens
of easels all over the town and out in the countryside, but unfortunately, there
is not even one Van Gogh original in the city.
We happened to pass the hospital where he spent his last two
years in a mental asylum, now converted to apartments and shops. The garden and
the portal are essentially the same. I suspect they keep it that way so the
easel with the painting still matches the scene.
During his stay, Van Gogh’s doctor allowed him to go out
daily to paint in the areas around Arles. The locals objected to a loose mental
patient, but after a while, when all Vincent did was paint or perhaps act
strangely from time to time, they got used to it. His paintings never were
popular until many years after his suicide.
The archaeological museum is extensive. The emphasis is on
the Roman settlement, and the best displays are the models. In plexi-glass
cases are detailed and large models of the city, the Colosseum, the river, and
that unique Roman invention, the floating bridge. The public bathhouse which
was several stories tall, looked like an emperor’s villa.
 |
| Model of the floating bridge, ingenious!! |
In a long deep recess, there is a complete Roman barge that
sank in 53AD into the Rhone. It was discovered by divers and exhumed only a few
years ago at great expense. All of the cargo was intact and much of it is on display:
dozens of tall ceramic amphora that once held wine or olive oil, heavy ingots
of lead and copper, large chunks of pearly white limestone for facing
buildings, and the personal effects of the crew. The rudder, the wooden-metal
anchor, and the body of the boat are in amazing condition.
The museum also houses a number of funerary objects, carved
marble sarcophagi, busts, sculptures, and beautiful swaths of tile inlay scenes
that once graced the floors of elegant homes.
If we’d had more time we would have searched for the Van
Gogh easels, and explored more of the Roman buildings that are still in use.
Arles was a step back into several points of time, a real treat for someone who
travels to learn.
 |
| Model of Arles in 50 AD |
 |
| Brilliant solution to the need for shade at the Colosseum |
 |
| The well preserved Roman barge in the museum |
No comments:
Post a Comment