Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments

Arles: The City Van Gogh Didn’t Ruin for Everyone Else

Vincent van Gogh spent 15 months in Arles between February 1888 and May 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings there. He cut off part of his ear. He was eventually committed to an asylum in Saint-Remy de Provence. The Yellow House where he lived was destroyed in World War II. The cafes and bridges and fields he painted still exist or have equivalents that you can match against the canvases. The Van Gogh Foundation runs a dedicated space with contemporary artists responding to his work. All of this has made Arles synonymous with a single artistic biography, which undersells the city severely.

Arles was a major Roman port on the Rhone, an important enough city that Constantine had a palace here. The arena, the theatre, the necropolis at Alyscamps – all UNESCO World Heritage listed since 1981 – are among the best-preserved Roman monuments in Gaul. The church of Saint-Trophime and its cloister are 12th-century Romanesque at its most accomplished. The city has also become one of the contemporary art world’s more interesting addresses: the LUMA Foundation, housed in a Frank Gehry-designed 56-metre tower inspired by Van Gogh’s brushstroke technique, opened in 2021 and draws a completely different audience from the Roman archaeology.

The Amphitheatre (Les Arenes)

Built in the 1st century AD and seating approximately 20,000 spectators, the arena is in better condition than most of its contemporaries because Arles’ residents moved into it during the medieval period – at one point 200 houses and two churches occupied the interior. The population was eventually removed and the arena cleared in the 19th century. It still hosts bullfighting and concerts. Climb to the upper tiers for panoramic city views and allow 90 minutes.

Saint-Trophime and Its Cloister

The west portal of Saint-Trophime is one of the landmarks of Romanesque sculpture in southern France: the tympanum depicts the Last Judgement with carved figures of extraordinary detail running in friezes across the door surround. Inside, the Romanesque nave is severe and beautiful. The cloister attached to the north side has capitals carved with biblical scenes and mythological figures in work primarily from the 12th century, representing craftsmanship that took lifetimes to complete. The contrast between the intricacy of the carvings and the quiet of the courtyard they surround is the point.

The Alyscamps Necropolis

A 1.5-kilometre Roman burial ground with ancient sarcophagi lining a tree-lined walkway – a type of site that doesn’t exist in the same form anywhere else near western Europe’s main tourist routes. Many sarcophagi date from the 4th and 5th centuries when Arles was an important Christian centre. Van Gogh painted it. So did Gauguin, during his brief and disastrous stay with Van Gogh in late 1888. The late afternoon light is what the paintings were after.

Rencontres d’Arles Photography Festival

The annual photography festival runs from early July through early October and is one of the most important photography events in the world. The 2025 edition ran under the theme “Disobedient Images” with over 60 exhibitions across 30 citywide sites, including outdoor projections in the Roman theatre and public squares. The opening week in early July concentrates artist talks, book signings, and portfolio reviews. If you are interested in contemporary photography, this is the visit to plan around.

Eating

Arles sits in the Camargue, the marshy delta of the Rhone and Durance rivers, and local cuisine reflects it: Camargue rice, bull steak (the Camargue is cattle country), and tapenade made with local black olives. The Wednesday and Saturday markets in Boulevard des Lices sell produce, cheese, and Camargue ingredients. For restaurants, the mid-range options near the Place du Forum are reliable and reasonably priced; the Place itself, with its plane trees and cafe terraces, is the evening gathering place Van Gogh painted as the Cafe Terrace at Night.

Arles is easily reached from Marseille (1 hour by train), Avignon (1 hour), and Paris (about 4 hours on TGV via Avignon). It is a manageable and rewarding two-day base, less expensive and less crowded than Avignon or Aix, and more historically dense than either.