Arles - The seat of western power of the Roman emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries. We connected with our friends from Thunder Bay for 2 days, and managed to see quite a bit. Like all good Roman towns, there is an ampitheatre. This one has been restored (some say too much, but it was bombed during WW-II and something had to be done) and is used to this day for bull fights etc.
The sand floor of the ampitheatre, where the bull fights occur.
Enjoying the show "from the cheap seats"
While we were there we were lucky enough to see a real bull fight (and lucky enough that the staff left the door to the arena floor open during their break...)
Below is a reconstruction of what the arena and the theatre looked like when they were young.
The theatre today:
I'm not sure, but I don't think that the Romans had "Air Guitar", likely that is what led to the fall of the Roman Empire.
We walked with the O'Neills to the Musee de l'Arles Antique, to see some of the things on offer, and as a bonus it was the first Sunday of the month, when all national museums in France are free. Below is a nice little model of what the amphitheatre looked like when it still had the rigging for the retractable (sail cloth) roof. Take that SkyDome, RogersDome .. whatever you are now.
Still at the museum, this is a sarcophagus showing hunting scenes, wild boar, deer etc, very lovely.
A very intricate floor mosaic, did the Romans have swiffers?..nope Slaves, next best thing.
Onward and Downward. Our next stop on the whirlwind tour of Arles was the Cryptoportico, currenly under the Hotel de Ville, and the street. However in the time when the Roman Forum was standing the Romans needed a way to level the main square. Rather than just fill in the slope to make it level, they built a sub-basement, out of ... you guessed it, ROMAN ARCHES, lots of them. Then they simply built the floor of the forum on top. All of this is now about 6m below street level, and is exceptionally cool.
Nicest basement I've been to in a long time.
Back on street level we went to visit the Eglise St. Trophime, which is well known for the sculptures over the portico of the last judgement. Hi ho hi ho, its off to H.E. double hockey sticks we go.
We three kings..... you know the rest.
Next stop the Roman Baths of Constantine I, built during the 4th century. the site has quite a lot of good detail of how the baths functioned, were laid out, and were heated. There were three different temperature rooms, hot, medium, cold; basically determined by how far the room was from the fire that heated the floor, and the baths. below we see the "hot tub dance"..don't ask.
Detail showing the space below the floor that allowed the hot air to circulate throughout the baths.
O.K. I love this, first of all look at the street. Very narrow yes? Then have a look at the steps. So naturally you need to put a bollard in the middle of it to keep the cars out. Very French. Don't think I'm kidding, without the bollard, this street would be full of parked cars. It is after-all across from les Arenes, and around the corner from a pay parking lot.
Arles reached it peak under the Romans in the 4th and 5th centuries. During this time the population of the city was around 100,000 versus today of 53,000
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