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Concept
Arles
Summary
Arles (ɑːrl(z), USalsoˈɑːrəl, aʁl; Arle ˈaʀle ; Classical Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of Provence.
A large part of the Camargue, the largest wetlands in France, is located on the territory of the commune, making it the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of geographic territory (in non-metropolitan France, Maripasoula (French Guiana) is much larger than Arles). The commune's land area is slightly larger than Singapore. The city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981 for their testimony to the history of the region.
Many artists have lived and worked in this area because of the southern light, including Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin and Jacques Réattu. The Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889, and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. These are in internationally known museums and private collections around the world. An international photography festival has been held annually in the city since 1970.
The settlement is attested as Arelate in the mid-1st century BC (Caesar), Areláte (Ἀρελάτε) in the early 1st c. AD (Strabo), Arlate civitas in 954, and Arle in the 13th century. The toponym Arelate is a Latinized form of the Gaulish *Arelati, meaning 'by the marsh', or 'in front of the marsh'.
The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta. Because the Camargue is for a large part administratively part of Arles, the commune as a whole is the largest commune in Metropolitan France in terms of territory. But its population numbers only slightly more than 50,000. Its area is , which is more than seven times the area of Paris.
The Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC.
Official source
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