PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D'AZURE

Orange

I had read about the Roman Theatre and was thinking of a coliseum like structure - similar to the what is in Arles.

But the theatre in Orange is a dramatic theatre that was used to stage plays. The Théâtre Antique and the Arc de Triomphe are two of the largest Roman structures standing in in Western Europe.

Built in pre-christian times, with the rise of Christianity, the theatre was ordered closed by the after the fall of Rome.

It stood idle for years. Then the town of Orange was invaded and the theatre was sacked and burned. During Medieval times it became its own fortified town with houses and streets. Later during the French Revolution it was converted into a prison.

Then, thankfully for us today, in the 1800's, while it was still serving as a prison, efforts were made to reconstruct the structure back to its status as theatre.

As a Roman Theatre the productions lasted the entire day. To protect patrons, the theatre had a retractable canvas roof.

Built into the side of a hill, the hill forms the nature slope for the rows of seats to rise from ground level to a significant height.

It is very interesting and well worth the trip to Orange to vist the theatre.

The Arch de Triomphe, built around 20 BC, is covered with intricate frieze and relief, It was built by the Romans to celebrate their victories against the Gauls.

Originally built well outside the walls of the town, today it sits in a traffic circle but still stands a regal as ever. I certainly had mixed feelings about such a magnificent structure being in the middle of a traffic circle. We are not talking about a round about like the Arch de Triomphe in Paris. This is a relatively small circle with a road that goes around the sides. We climbed over the chain and then walked up to the moment. The detail, although showing its age, is still very impressive.