Les Alyscamps

Arles


Testament to the significance of Roman Arles, this grand processional avenue of tombs and sarcophagi holds more than 1500 years of corpses (which Roman custom insisted were buried outside the city). Van Gogh and Gauguin both painted this necropolis, at the eastern end of which stands the marvellously atmospheric, unfinished 11th-century St-Honorat chapel.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Arles attractions

1. Fondation Luma

0.19 MILES

Arles' already-bulging cultural landscape avidly awaits this new cutting-edge gallery and arts centre, rising inexorably at a defunct railway depot in the…

2. Église Notre Dame de la Major

0.32 MILES

Complicated restoration projects mean this 12th-century church, dominating Arles from the highest point in the city, can only be admired from outside…

3. Théâtre Antique

0.33 MILES

It's easy to admire the grace and engineering of this theatre – built at the behest of the unofficial first Roman Emperor, Augustus, in the 1st century BC…

4. Les Arènes

0.34 MILES

In Roman Gaul, every important town had an amphitheatre, where gladiators and wild animals met their (usually grisly) ends. Few examples have survived,…

5. Église St-Trophime

0.36 MILES

Named for Arles' semi-mythical first archbishop, this Romanesque-style church, built over a 5th-century basilica, was a cathedral until the bishopric…

6. Hôtel de Ville

0.38 MILES

Completed in 1676, and still the seat of Arles' government, the handsome Town Hall is also the entrance to the subterranean Roman Cryptoportiques.

7. Cryptoportiques

0.39 MILES

The origins of these fascinating underground chambers, now sitting below the current city centre, go at least back to the first Roman colony in Arles in…

8. Espace Van Gogh

0.42 MILES

The 16th-century hospital where Van Gogh had his ear stitched on and was later locked up hosts the occasional exhibition (which attracts an entry fee). At…

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