The South of France-East Half Part 17

In the Place de la Republique is the Hotel de Ville, built in 1675 on the site of the Roman baths constructed by the Emperor Augustus. The s.p.a.cious vaults under the Hotel du Nord formed probably a part of these baths, although in later times they seem to have been used as an ossuary.

[Map: Arles]

Almost adjoining the Hotel de Ville is the church of St. Anne, now the Archaeological Museum, with a collection of inscriptions, sarcophagi, urns, statues, columns, friezes, altars, and tombstones, those of the Pagans having the letters D.M., _Diis manibus_. Also some of the long lead pipes, with the name of the plumber, "C. Canthius Porthinus fac.,"

which helped to bring water from the fountain at the foot of the hill on which Baux stands. At the inner end, right hand, is a torse of Mithras of white Pharos marble, 3 ft. 2 inches high, found in 1598 on the site of the Roman Circus. A serpent is coiled round the body, and between the coils are the signs of the Zodiac. In the opposite corner is an altar in Carrara marble to the good G.o.ddess "Bonae-Deae," found under the church La Major. On the front face is a garland of oak leaves and acorns, and 7 inches distant from each other two human ears. Near it is a good head of Augustus, and a mutilated one of Diana. About the centre of the room is a rec.u.mbent figure of Silenus, with a wine skin under his arm.

In the centre of the "Place" is the monolith obelisk, 49 ft. high, hewn by the Romans from the quarries of Esterel. It stood originally in the Circus at the S.W. corner of the town; but of it no vestiges remain.

[Headnote: ST. TROPHIME.]

Opposite St. Anne is the cathedral of St. Trophime, consecrated on the 17th May 626, and rebuilt in the 9th cent. The portal, erected in 1221, consists of a semicircular arch resting on six columns, behind which are statues of apostles and saints separated by pilasters. In the tympanum is Christ, the judge of the world, with the symbols of the Evangelists.

In the interior the door on the S. side of the choir leads out to the cloister, of which the N. side belongs to the 9th, the south to the 16th, the east to the 13th, and the west to the 14th cent.

Pa.s.sing from the cloister into the street, and turning to the left, we arrive at the Theatre, commenced during the dominion of the Greeks, and finished before the Christian era. In the centre of this grand ruin, originally 335 ft. in its greatest diameter, stand two Corinthian columns 30 ft. high, and the base of other two, which formed part of the proscenium. Opposite them is the semicircular s.p.a.ce for the spectators, with still many of the stone seats. The Venus of Arles, one of the most valuable statues in the Louvre, was found here. The theatre is open to the public, but the keeper endeavours to attach himself to strangers.

[Headnote: AMPHITHEATRE.]

A short way N.E. is the far grander and more imposing +Amphitheatre+ or Les Arenes, said to have been commenced by the father of Tiberius Nero, B.C. 46. It is elliptic, 459 ft. long and 132 wide, surrounded by a double wall 60 ft. high, each with two stages of arches, and in each stage 60 arches. From around the arena rise 43 tiers of stone seats, capable of containing 23,438 spectators. The stone steps leading up to them were 1 ft. high and 2 ft. 3 inches long. There were besides above 150 rooms for the gladiators and men connected with the theatre, and 100 dens for wild beasts. The three towers were added by the Saracens in the 8th cent. Bull-fights are given in the building, when a mult.i.tude of spectators, as in the time of the Romans, fill the galleries. A splendid view of the amphitheatre, the city, and of the commencement of the delta of the Rhone, is had from the western tower. The entrance into the amphitheatre is by the north gate. The doorkeeper lives in a house a little to the left of the gate. This grand ruin should, if possible, be visited by moonlight; yet during the day the beautiful masonry is more easily examined. It is the great sight in Arles, and it is better to omit all the others than to do this one hurriedly.

The Camargue or Delta of the Rhone, commencing at the outskirts of Arles, is a triangular plain of 180,000 acres extending to the Mediterranean, bounded on the west by the Pet.i.t Rhone, and on the east by the Grand Rhone. It contains small villages and large farms, with extensive vineyards and grazing ground for cattle, sheep, and horses. It is best visited by the steamboat sailing between Arles and Port St.

Louis on the mouth of the great Rhone. (See p. 72, and map, p. 66.)

[Headnote: ELYSEI CAMPI. TROPHIMUS.]

S.E. above the Promenade is the church of St. Cesaire, 9th cent., on the site of a temple of Jupiter. From this to go to Alyscamps, walk down the Boulevard Alyscamps to the ca.n.a.l c.r.a.ponne, where turn to the left. The first ruin pa.s.sed is an old entrance into what was the domain of the monastery of St. Cesaire. The Avenue of Alyscamps is lined on each side by 33 large stone coffins with lids, and 120 smaller coffins without lids. This, the Elysei Campi, an ancient Roman cemetery, is now divested of all its valuables and statues, of which a few are in the museum. As J. C.Himself is said to have appeared during the consecration of the cemetery, it was believed that at the resurrection it would be especially favoured by Him; hence the efforts made by so many to bury their friends here. It is said that up to the 12th cent. coffins with their dead, and money for the funeral expenses, floated down the Rhone, of their own accord, to be buried in this privileged spot. At the end of the avenue is the church of St. Honorat, on the site of the chapel founded by Trophimus the Ephesian, one of St. Paul's converts, who was sent to Arles to preach the gospel and to put an end to human sacrifices. Among the first things he is said to have done was to consecrate the Alyscamps and transform it thus from a heathen into a Christian burial-place, and add to it a little chapel. An old Arles writer alleges on his own authority that Trophimus dedicated this chapel to Mary, who was then alive. After labouring 36 years in this diocese he died on the 29th of November 94, and was buried in the little chapel he himself had built. Among the successors of Trophimus were Ambrose in 160, who remained here 20 years; Augustine in 220, who died 10 years afterwards; Jerome in 230, who also died 10 years afterwards; Marcien in 252, the originator of the Novatien sect; and St. Cyprien in 253. Saint Virgil, one of the successors, founded in 601 the church of St. Honorat beside the chapel of Trophimus. The present church dates only from the 12th to the 14th cent. The best and oldest part, excepting the foundations, is the apsidal termination, which is semicircular, with 4 pilasters and a small window in the centre to give light to the officiating priest. Over it rises a neat octagonal belfry in two arcaded stages. Under the chancel is a small crypt. The keeper calls a small chapel at the left hand corner of the chancel, the chapel of Trophimus.

[Headnote: PICTURE GALLERY.]

The Picture Gallery, or the Musee Reattu, is at No. 11 R. Grand Prieure, near the Tour Trouille. The house and pictures were bequeathed to the town by a cousin of the painter Reattu, b. at Arles 1760, d. 1833. On picture 119 are portraits of himself, wife, and two cousins. Next the picture gallery is the school of design.

Branch line from Arles to Fontvieille, 7 m. E., pa.s.sing Mont-Majour 4 m.

E. Fontvieille is 7 m. S.W. from Les Baux by a good road. Junction at Arles with line to Aigues-Mortes, 36 m. S.W., and to Montpellier, 58 m.

S.W.; Cette is 17 m. farther. (See map, p. 66.)

[Headnote: MONT-MAJOUR.]

4 m. eastwards by rail from Arles are the ruins of the castle and abbey of Mont-Majour, all in a good state of preservation, excepting the domestic buildings, constructed in 1786. The concierge lives in a house near the station. Fee, 1 fr. He generally shows first the church, 11th cent., and the s.p.a.cious crypt below, 9th cent. Adjoining the church are the cloisters, 11th cent., of the same kind as those of St. Trophime, but more interesting and more perfect, and containing the tombs of some of the counts of Anjou. Next is the beautiful square dungeon tower, nearly as perfect as when erected in 1374. It is 262 ft. high, is ascended by 137 steps, and commands a wide prospect. From this, a stair leads down the face of the hill to the chapel and cell of St. Trophimus, princ.i.p.ally hewn in the soft limestone cliff. Standing apart at the base of the hill is St. Croix, dedicated in 1019, consisting of four semicircular sides, crowned with semidomes projecting from a square tower crowned with a kind of pyramid spire. At Fontvieille (Hotel du Commerce) are important quarries of soft calcareous sandstone.

[Headnote: PORT SAINT LOUIS.]

+Arles to Port Saint Louis+, at the mouth of the Great Rhone, 25 m. S.

by steamer on the Great Rhone. Time, 5 hrs. Fare, 2 frs. Railway unfinished (see map, p. 66). The steamboat pa.s.ses by an important part of the Camargue with large vineyards, rendered very fertile by irrigation, the water being forced up from the river by steam engines.

Cattle, sheep, and horses are reared on the tufts of coa.r.s.e gra.s.s which cover the more arid portions. The population is so spa.r.s.e that not a village is seen during the whole journey. (See also p. 70.)

+Port Saint Louis+ (Hotel Saint Louis), 6 m. W. from Port Bouc, consists of a straggling village between the Rhone and the basin of the ca.n.a.l constructed to enable vessels to avoid the bar of the Rhone.

This ca.n.a.l is 2 m. long, 196 ft. wide, and 22 ft. deep. To understand the geography of this desolate flat region of land and water, exposed to every wind, it is necessary to ascend the "tour Saint Louis,"

whence the plain, intersected by the Rhone and numerous ca.n.a.ls, appears literally like a map. The only villages seen in the vast expanse are Fos, on a hill, and near it the Port Bouc.

Great expense has been incurred to make Port St. Louis a convenient place for s.h.i.+pping, and attract to it some of the commerce from Ma.r.s.eilles.

23 m. S.W. from Arles, and separated from Port St. Louis by the great Etang Valcares, is the port called Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, or simply Les Saintes. The parish church, 12th cent., surrounded by fortifications, contains the tombs of the Maries and some good sculpture.

For +Arles to Port Bouc+, 29 m. S., see p. 76. The steamer sails from the S.W. corner of Arles (see map, page 66).

[Headnote: ST. GILLES. LUNEL.]

11 m. W. by rail from Arles is +St. Gilles+, pop. 7000. Hotel du Cheval-Blanc. A poor and ancient town on the ca.n.a.l of Aigues-Mortes, near the Pet.i.t Rhone. The abbey church, founded in 1116, is considered a good specimen of Byzantine architecture. The facade consists of a bald wall with a plain tower on each side. Between these towers are three semicircular recessed portals, below an entablature resting on two single and two double columns. The capitals are Corinthian, but the pedestals (considerably effaced) consist of lions and grotesque animals in uncouth positions. Behind them, on the piers of the arches of the portals, stand in bold relief statues of apostles and saints, separated from each other by pilasters. The interior, consisting of a nave and two aisles, is 290 ft. long, 88 wide, and 62 high. In the N.

aisle a stair of 33 steps leads down to the lower church, with semicircular arches on short ma.s.sive piers. From the centre 7 more steps descend to the tomb of St. Gilles. All the characteristics of this church are equally well represented in St. Trophime of Arles.

16 m. farther W., or 28 m. from Arles by rail, is +Lunel+, pop. 7300.

_Inns:_ Palais; Nord; Tapis-verd; none good. A town of narrow streets, with a park and promenade by the side of the ca.n.a.l. The church is constructed after the pattern of those of Carca.s.sonne and Perpignan.

On the surrounding plain an inferior wine is grown. The first-cla.s.s vineyards, producing the generous white wines from 17 to 18, are all on the neighbouring gravelly eminences.

[Headnote: AIGUES-MORTES.]

8 m. S. by rail from Lunel is the more interesting town of +AIGUES-MORTES+, "stagnant waters," pop. 4300, 4 m. from the Mediterranean, and 4 ft. above it, and connected with it by a navigable ca.n.a.l. _Inn:_ Saint Louis. It is of great historical interest, and is surrounded by the most perfect old embrasured wall in France, built in the form of a parallelogram, 596 yds. long by 149 yds. broad. It is 36 ft. high, and is flanked by 15 towers. On the western side rises the famous round tower of Constance, 96 ft. high and 72 in diameter, containing two vaulted superimposed circular chambers, used by Louis XIV. and Louis XV. as prisons for their Protestant subjects of both s.e.xes, who here suffered such cruelties that the Dutch and Swiss Governments were roused to interfere in their behalf, and even Frederic the Great is said to have interceded for them, but in vain. From the platform at the top of this tower is the highly interesting view of the flat country at the mouth of the Rhone, whence the traveller may judge for himself whether the sea has, or has not, receded from the town since the time of Saint Louis--we think not. Both the tower of Constance and the walls are the work of Saint Louis, who had a predilection for Aigues-Mortes, as he considered it the most suitable place in his kingdom from which to embark for Palestine. On 25th August 1248, after having heard ma.s.s in the church Notre-Dame-des-Sablons (fronting his statue), he and his Queen Marguerite sailed from Aigues-Mortes on their first expedition to Palestine. On the 3d of July 1270 he again sailed from the same place; and on that same year, on the anniversary day of his first expedition, the 25th of August, he perished among the ruins of Carthage. 4 m. S.

from Aigues-Mortes by omnibus, or steamer by the ca.n.a.l, is the bathing station of Port-Grau-du-Roi. _Inns:_ Pommier; Dubois (see map, page 66).

49 m. N. from Lunel by rail is Vigan. (See page 105.)

96 m. W. from Ma.r.s.eilles, 43 m. W. from Arles, 31 m. S.W. from Nimes, and 15 m. S.W. from Lunel, is

[Headnote: MONTPELLIER.]

+MONTPELLIER+, on the sides and summit of an eminence 145 ft. above the sea and 7 miles from it. Pop. 56,000. _Hotels:_ H. Nevet, the best and most expensive, at the commencement of the Esplanade. On the same side, only a little farther up, is a block of handsome buildings containing the Public Library, closed on Sundays and Thursdays, and the Picture Gallery or Musee Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays.

Adjoining is the Lycee.

In the Place de la Comedie, near the Esplanade, is the H. du Midi, the next best hotel. In the Grande Rue, the H. Cheval Blanc, frequented by commercial men. Opposite the station is the H. de la Gare. In the fine broad street, the Rue Maguelone, leading from the station to the Place de la Comedie, is the H. Maguelone, second cla.s.s. Their omnibuses await pa.s.sengers.

Temple Protestant near station, in the Rue Maguelone. Telegraph Office in the Boulevard de la Comedie. Post in the Boulevard Jeu-de-Paume.

From the Esplanade omnibus runs to Castelnau. From near the Place de la Comedie coach to Mauguio. From the Boulevard de Blanquerie, below the prison, coach to Claret and St. Hippolyte. (See map, p. 66.)

[Headnote: BOTANIC GARDENS.]

The most modern part of the town is the Rue Maguelone, leading from the station to the Esplanade, a delightful promenade bounded by the citadel. At the N.W. angle of the Esplanade a stair leads down to a line of boulevards, pa.s.sing up by the "Hopital General" to the Botanic Gardens, the earliest inst.i.tution of this kind in France, founded in the reign of Henri IV., and for some years under the direction of the famous botanist De Candolle. It contains an area of 9 acres, divided into three parts: at the N. end is a nursery; at the S., in a hollow, surrounded by trees, the botanical part; and between these two divisions the arboretum. Opposite the Botanic Gardens is the once famous +ecole de medecine+, said to have been founded by Arab physicians under the patronage of the Counts of Montpellier. It now occupies the old bishops' palace, built in the 14th cent., with additions in the 17th. At the entrance are bronze statues of Barthez, 1734-1806, and La Peyronie, 1678-1747. Within the entrance are busts of the most celebrated professors and divines connected with the college and the church of Montpellier. In the same building are also valuable anatomical and pathological collections, and a library with 55,000 vols. Adjoining is the +Cathedral+ of St. Pierre, 14th and 15th cents., but the choir is recent, though in the same style. White marble statue of Mary and child by Canova.

Overlooking the Botanic Gardens is the beautiful promenade, the Place du Peyrou, on an eminence at the western side of the town. In cold weather invalids and nurses with their children frequent the lower terrace of this "Place," the promenade Ba.s.se du Midi. At the western end of the Peyrou is the Chateau d'Eau, a hexagonal Corinthian building, which receives and distributes through the town the water brought from the fontaine de St. Clement, 5 m. from Montpellier. The aqueduct, which conveys the water across the valley from the opposite hill, consists of two tiers of arches 70 ft. high and 2896 ft. long.

The gate at the end of the promenade was erected to commemorate the victories of Louis XIV. Adjoining is the Palais de Justice, with statues of Cambaceres and Cardinal Fleury. Eastwards, by crooked streets, are the Mairie and the markets.

[Headnote: MUSeE FABRE.]

A short way north from the Hotel Nevet, by the Rues Ste. Foi and also on the Esplanade, is a handsome modern edifice, comprising the +Musee Fabre+, the Bibliotheque publique with 65,000 vols., and the "Collection de la Societe archeologique." The Musee Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays and feast days, contains, among many works of inferior merit, some good pictures by great artists, such as Berghem, Fra Bartolommeo, P. C. Champaigne, Cuyp, L. David, G. Dow, Van Dyck, Ghirlandajo, Girodet, Granet, Greuze, Metsu, Palma, P.Veronese, Porbus, P. Potter, Poussin, Samuel Reynolds, Salvator Rosa, Rubens, Ruysdael, Andrea del Sarto, D. Teniers, Terburg, t.i.tian, and Zarg. The library contains some curious MSS. connected with, the Stuarts, which belonged to Prince Charles Edward.

Montpellier produces a lovely coloured wine with good bouquet, called St. Georges d'Orgues. The manufacture of verdigris, the preparation of preserved fruits, dye works, chemical works, and distilleries, are the princ.i.p.al industries.

From the railway station, opposite the Hotel de Nevet, a line extends through the lagoon Perols, covering a surface of 3000 acres, and yielding annually 2000 tons of salt, to the port of Palavas, 5 m.

south (pop. 1000), with a beautiful beach. At the Palavas terminus is the Casino hotel, and on the Ca.n.a.l the Hotel des Bains and the Restaurant Parisien. A cabine (bathing-house), including costume and linen, costs 1 fr. Leave the train at the Plage station. 3 m. from Montpellier, in the retired valley of the Mosson, is the mineral water establishment of Foncaude. Water saline, unctuous, and sedative. Good for indigestion and nervous disorders. 12 m. north from Montpellier is the Pic du Loup, rising from the village St. Mathieu (pop. 500) to the height of 680 ft., commanding an extensive view, and having on the top a chapel visited by pilgrims.