Arles
After barbarians from northern Europe defeated the Roman armies at the Battle of Arausio (today's Orange) in 105 BCE, Consul Marius intervened in the region of Arles where, for logistical reasons, he had a wide ditch dug called Fosses Mariennes at the mouth of the Rhône before crushing the barbarians. After his subsequent victories, Marius abandoned the use of the new waterway to the Marseillais who thus extended their influence to Arles, now a port for both river and sea. As a reward for supporting Marius's nephew Julius Caesar against Marseille in 49 BCE during the civil war. Caesar records his approach to the city which he designates by Arelate in the Bello Civico I.36.4: "Naves longas Arelate number XII facere institute (He had twelve warships built in Arles)." These vessels, built in less than a month, allowed him to win his battle against Marseilles on June 12, 49 BCE. To reward Arles for this help, he instructed Tiberius Claudius Nero , father of the future emperor Tiberius, to found the Roman colony of Arelate in the autumn of 45 BCE for
men of the 6th Legion, and this was reflected in the colony’s official
name: Colonia Julia Paterna Arelatensum Sextanorum, or Julius’ Paternal
Colony of the Sixth at Arelate. The settlers of this new province were given territory taken from that of Marseilles. The first governor of Arelate was Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. 
Upon Caesar's assassination his nephew and adopted son, the future emperor Augustus, renamed the colony Colonia Julia Paterna Arelate Sextanorum, and visited the town himself around 40 BCE to organise this bastion of Roman power which then imposed itself against its rival Marseille. With the creation of the colony, the people of Arles, freed from the tutelage of Marseilles, became true Roman citizens with the possibility of taking part in the deliberations of the people in the assemblies of the capital when they went there. As such, the Arlesians were registered as one of the tribes of Rome, the Teretina tribe. Arelate was an important city in Roman times, of which it has preserved many vestiges, in particular the arenas and the necropolis of Alyscamps. Strabo in 18 AD referred to the commercial role of the city, and a little later Pliny the Elder mentioned Arelate Sextanorum. From the beginning of the century a Roman road, the via Agrippa, linked the city to Vienne and Lyon. Benefiting for more than five centuries from a strategic geopolitical situation on the Rhône, from successive urban plans and the support of several emperors, it became one of the first Christian centres of Gaul and imperial residence and then, at the end of the 4th century, a praetorian prefecture. Besieged in 425, 430, 453, 457 and 471 , the city was finally taken by the Visigoth king Euric for the first time in 472 and then definitively in 476.
During the Second World War Arles became the victim of five aerial bombings in the summer of 1944 in which the city lost its station, its two bridges and 28% of its habitat. Also destroyed were two churches, Saint-Julien and Saint-Pierre-de-Trinquetaille, whilst the amphitheatre, the ramparts and Notre-Dame-de-la-Major werev rendered seriously damaged
.gif "Arles Roman amphitheatre then and now")
The
Roman amphitheatre in Arles in the 19th century and in 2015 with Drake
Winston two years after the completion of the restoration campaign led
by Alain-Charles Perrot, Chief Architect of Historic Monuments. Nearly 25 million euros were devoted to
this restoration which lasted ten years and which was, at that time,
one of the largest sites on Heritage in France. The amphitheatre itself
was built around 80 -90 by the orders of the Emperor Domitian as part of
the Flavian extensions of the city. The amphitheatre of Arles is the
most important monument of the ancient Roman colony that remains some
two millennia after its construction. Roman engineers had to build the
amphitheatre of on the hill of Hauture; to do this, they had to first
demolish the Augustan enclosure erected a century earlier. The arena
takes up the classic characteristics of this type of construction and
was inspired by the Colosseum in Rome which had just been completed.
Like it, an evacuation system via numerous access corridors, an
elliptical central stage surrounded by bleachers, arcades over two
levels for a total length of 136 metres. At each level, a circular
gallery gave access to the bleachers by stairs alternating with vertical
passages. The building could accommodate 25,000 spectators. In 255 the
Emperor Gallus had games organised here in celebration of the victories
won by his armies in Gaul. At the beginning of the 4th century ,
Constantine had great hunts and battles depicted there on the occasion
of the birth of his eldest son. Later, Majoran gave several shows there.
Finally, we know from Procopius that in 539 Childebert, king of Paris,
having visited the south of Gaul, wanted the games of the ancients to be
renewed in his presence. By the end of the 6th century however, the
arena had to adapt to the return of insecurity to transform itself into a
bastide , a sort of urban fortress which, over time, had four towers
and in which are integrated more than two hundred dwellings and two
chapels. The doctor and geographer Jérome Münzer passing through Arles in 1495 wrote of how
“poor people live in this theatre, having their huts in the hangers and
on the arena." King François I, visiting the city in 1516, expressed
surprise and regret to find such a building in such a sad state. This
residential function was perpetuated over time before the expropriation
started at the end of the 18th century was finally completed in 1825 at
the instigation of the mayor at the time, Baron de Chartrouse . The
arena rediscovered its original function in 1830, during an inaugural
party on the occasion of the celebration of the taking of Algiers, with
the bullfighting show which earned it its current common name of Arènes.
It took another decade on December 30 , 1840 that the Archaeological
Commission demolished the last houses backing onto the amphitheatre.
Today it hosts many shows, bullfights , Camargue races (including the
golden cockade), theatrical performances and musical performances as a
way of combining the preservation of ancient heritage and the cultural
life of today. Summer sees a return to basics for the amphitheatre when
every Tuesday and Thursday, a team of professionals brings Roman customs
and customs to life, presenting gladiator fights to the public.
German
forces occupied Arles when they took over all of France including its
"free zone" administered by the Vichy Government in November 1942 as a
precaution when the allies invaded North Africa. Within the months
before the allied landing in Southern France in August 1944 a large
number of bombing raids were carried out by the allies in order to
destroy railway lines and stations and cut the bridges across the Rhone
to hinder the German retreat. Arles had endured eight raids between 25
June and 15 August which inflicted great damage to the buildings and a
considerable number of civilian deaths. Van Gogh's Maison Jaune
was destroyed (see below) as most of the bridges along the Rhone were
bombed. The bombing was actually carried out by groups from the Free
French Airforce - thus ironically by Frenchmen themselves - flying
American B26 Marauder medium bombers. As the Germans retreated up the
west bank of the Rhone this had been quite unnecessary.
The bridge was built in 1868 to allow trains of the PLM company [Paris-Lyon Marseille] to link Arles to Lunel cross the Rhone river, which is already quite wide at this point. This line in particular was dedicated to dispatch the coal produced in the Cevennes mountains. The bridge was destroyed on the 6th of August 1944, during a bombing. All that remains of the bridge are its pillars and imposing sculptured lions. The lion sculptures are the work of Pierre Louis Rouillard.
The pillars remain standing. The arrival of German troops in Arles brought immediate changes to the town's administrative and social landscape. Contrary to the notion that the occupation was merely an imposition of German rule, Paxton asserts that Vichy France was a willing collaborator. This complicates the situation in Arles, as it was a place caught between two regimes. Both the Nazis and the Vichy government sought to exert influence, and their interests often converged. For example, stringent anti-Semitic laws were quickly enacted, affecting the town’s Jewish population profoundly. Property was seized, and individuals were rounded up for deportation, mirroring the broader Holocaust policies implemented across Europe. Concurrently, the imposition of a strict curfew and other civil restrictions created a stifling atmosphere that deeply impacted everyday life. Economically, the occupation years were a period of scarcity and hardship for Arles. The Germans requisitioned a significant portion of the town’s resources, from food to machinery, contributing to a dire situation that was exacerbated by the absence of many men who had either fled or been conscripted. Vinen argues that this contributed to a ‘shadow economy’, where black markets and informal trading became prevalent as people sought to survive. Even though this alternative economy offered some relief, it also led to a dramatic increase in crime rates and corruption, complicating the moral landscape of the town.
Van Gogh's Trinquetaille Bridge of 1888, since replaced after being bombed during the war- note the tree in both. Both bridges that linked the Trinquetaille district to Arles were destroyed respectively on August 6, 1944 and August 15, 1944 by Allied bombing, which completely isolated the district from the rest of the city. The area itself was bombed the war with the main destruction suffered in Arles occurred in 1944 by six Allied bombardments during the fighting for the liberation of Provence. The objectives were the destruction of the bridges, but several districts, notably La Roquette, La Cavalerie and Trinquetaille, were damaged. Trinquetaille alone saw 405 buildings destroyed, involving over a thousand homes with only the bell tower of the Saint-Pierre church still standing. In June of 1987, this painting sold for $20.2 million making it the second highest price ever paid for a painting at auction. Living
in Arles, he was at the height of his career, producing some of his
best work: sunflowers, fields, farmhouses and people of the Arles, Nîmes
and Avignon areas. In less than
fifteen months he had produced about an hundred drawings, produced more than 200
paintings and wrote more than 200 letters. The canals, drawbridges,
windmills, thatched cottages and expansive fields of the Arles
countryside reminded Van Gogh of his life in the Netherlands. Arles
brought him the solace and bright sun that he sought for himself and
conditions to explore painting with more vivid colours, intense colour
contrasts and varied brushstrokes. He also returned to the roots of his
artistic training from the Netherlands, most notably with the use of a
reed pen for his drawings.
In front of the Langlois Bridge at Arles, the subject of four oil paintings, one watercolour and four drawings by Vincent van Gogh. The works, made in 1888 when Van Gogh lived in Arles, represent a melding of formal and creative aspects. Van Gogh used a perspective frame that he built and used in The Hague to create precise lines and angles when portraying perspective.Van Gogh was influenced by Japanese woodcut prints, as evidenced by his simplified use of colour to create a harmonious and unified image. Contrasting colours, such as blue and yellow, were used to bring a vibrancy to the works. He painted with an impasto, or thickly applied paint, using colour to depict the reflection of light. The subject matter, a drawbridge on a canal, reminded him of his homeland in the Netherlands. He asked his brother Theo to frame and send one of the paintings to an art dealer in the Netherlands. The reconstructed Langlois Bridge is now named Pont Van-Gogh.
Van Gogh had been 35 when he made the Langlois Bridge paintings and drawings. The Langlois Bridge was one of the crossings over the Arles to Bouc canal. It was built in the first half of the 19th century to expand the network of canals to the Mediterranean Sea. Locks and bridges were built, too, to manage water and road traffic. 
Just
outside Arles, the first bridge was the officially titled "Pont de
Réginel" but better known by the keeper's name as "Pont de Langlois". In
1930, the original drawbridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete
structure which, in 1944, was blown up by the retreating Germans who
destroyed all the other bridges along the canal except for the one at
Fos-sur-Mer, a port on the Mediterranean Sea. The Fos Bridge was
dismantled in 1959 with a view to relocating it on the site of the
Langlois Bridge but as a result of structural difficulties, it was
finally reassembled at Montcalde Lock several kilometres away from the
original site. According to letters to his brother Theo, Van Gogh began a
study of women washing clothes near the Langlois Bridge about mid-March
1888 and was working on another painting of the bridge about April 2.
This was the first of several versions he painted of the Langlois Bridge
that crossed the Arles canal. Reflecting on Van Gogh's works of the Langlois Bridge Debora Silverman, author of the book Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art comments, "Van Gogh's depictions of the bridge have been considered a quaint exercise in nostalgia mingled with Japonist allusions." Van Gogh
approached the making of the paintings and drawings about the bridge in
a "serious and sustained manner" with attention to "the structure,
function, and component parts of this craft mechanism in the landscape."
The Maison Jaune,
also the subject of Van Gogh, didn't survive the bombing and no longer
exists. The place without the house looks almost the same. Although Van
Gogh's building is gone a placard on the scene commemorates its former
existence.
Petain's image displayed at the amphitheatre. The central photograph shows German officers in 1944.
Bombed during the war with wife and son at the reconstructed spot today.
Father and son's photo of mom between arches
Chapel of Saint-Gabriel de Tarascon
.gif "Chapel of Saint-Gabriel de Tarascon then now")
Orange
On October 6 105 BCE
the Battle of Orange took place. The Teutons, allied with the Cimbri,
the Ambrones and the Helvetii crushed the Roman legions of the consul
Gnaeus Mallius Maximus and of Quintus Servilius Caepio in front of
Arausio. The treasure of the Volques, which they had pillaged at
Toulouse , was thrown into the Rhône by the victors. The historian
Orosius wrote:"They threw into the river gold, silver, weapons,
cuirasses, vases even after having broken them, the clothes of the
corpses were lacerated and the horses still alive were thrown into an
abyss". Provencia and the road to Rome were open to them, but the
coalition split to move towards Spain or go up towards Gaul. Many think
that the gold from the Volques de Toulouse, thrown into the Rhône by the
Cimbri, is still at the bottom of the river.
.gif "Roman arch Orange then now")
In the Middle Ages, the monument was fortified to serve as an advanced bastion at the entrance to the city. The arch was converted into a fortress in the 13th century and fitted with an eight metre high tower. It was then owned by Raymond I des Baux, the prince d'Orange, and belonged to the Principality of Orange until 1725 .
.gif "Roman arch Orange then now")
How the arch appears from Hubert Robert's 1789 painting The Ruins of Nîmes, Orange and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence showing the dilapidated state of the arch and how much today is a product of extensive restoration. The seemingly good state of preservation of the arch, which to the layman appears to be largely intact evidence of ancient architecture, is thus the result of over 200 years of restoration and renewal. As early as 1721, a prince de Conti, probably Louis Armand II de Bourbon had the tower erected on the arch in the 13th century demolished. In 1725, the pilasters in the western and central passages and the western archivolt of the south side were renewed, as was the left half-column of the south side. In order to secure the building, the upper part of the west side was bricked up in 1772. In 1808 Alexandre Reux, departmental architect of Vaucluse, carried out safety and conservation work on the arch. As part of this work, the pilasters, impost capitals and archivolts of the western passage on the south side were added, and the south-east corner was completely restored. In addition, the pilasters on the north side were added and the extensions leaning against the western facade were demolished. When the Route Nationale 7 was expanded in 1809, a square was created with the arch in the middle, around which the road ran on both sides. A later view of the arch can be seen on the right from Victor Cassien and Alexandre Debelle's Album du Dauphiné, from 1839. The arch was further restored in the 1820s by the architect Auguste Caristie
who began by clearing the buttresses and medieval additions, before
proceeding to a non-aggressive reconstruction of the monument, replacing
the unusable parts or missing in an identifiable way; the entire west side of the arch, which was badly damaged, was completely redesigned using only two antique components. The additions to the north side included the corner columns, parts of the weapon relief located above the western passage, the corner pilasters of the lower attic and the western pedestal of the upper attic. .gif "Roman arch Orange then now")
On the badly damaged south side, he had the western semi-columns and all profiles renewed. With the exception of the east side, which is still best preserved, the entire entablature on the arch above the blind columns was renewed. Caristie made sure that the additions and renewals were identified as such and did not elaborate on the ornamentation. This downright modern approach to monument preservation was discarded during the restorations between 1950 and 1957. Now the additions, which can be recognised as modern, were subsequently ornamented and artificially weathered by means of sandblasting. Since then, it has hardly been possible to distinguish between the antique inventory and the modern additions.
.gif "Roman arch Orange then now")
On the badly damaged south side, he had the western semi-columns and all profiles renewed. With the exception of the east side, which is still best preserved, the entire entablature on the arch above the blind columns was renewed. Caristie made sure that the additions and renewals were identified as such and did not elaborate on the ornamentation. This downright modern approach to monument preservation was discarded during the restorations between 1950 and 1957. Now the additions, which can be recognised as modern, were subsequently ornamented and artificially weathered by means of sandblasting. Since then, it has hardly been possible to distinguish between the antique inventory and the modern additions. The last cleanup of the arch was completed in June 2021; from 2015 to 2017, drainage works made it possible to clean up the bottom of the arch, at the level of which rainwater sometimes stagnated. Trees have since been felled and the road redeveloped, so that vehicles pass less closely. On this occasion, adjustable lighting was installed, making it possible to engage in the current fad of illuminate the arch in different colours, in particular those of the French flag.
The
ancient Roman theatre in Orange was built early in the 1st century AD.
It is one of the best preserved of all the Roman theatres in the Roman
colony of Arausio (or, more specifically, Colonia Julia Firma
Secundanorum Arausio: "the Julian colony of Arausio established by the soldiers of the second legion") which was founded in 40 BCE. Playing a
major role in the life of the citizens, who spent a large part of their
free time there, the theatre was seen by the Roman authorities not only
as a means of spreading Roman culture to the colonies, but also as a way
of distracting them from all political activities. Mime, pantomime,
poetry readings and the farce was the dominant form of entertainment, much of
which lasted all day. Magnificent stage sets became very important, as
was the use of stage machinery, to keep commoners entertained. The entertainment offered was open to
all and free of charge. As the Western Roman Empire declined during the
4th century, by which time Christianity had become the official
religion, the theatre was closed by official edict in 391 CE since the
Church opposed what it regarded as uncivilised spectacles. After that,
the theatre was abandoned completely. It was sacked and pillaged by the barbarians and was used as a defensive post in the Middle Ages. .gif "Orange Roman theatre then and now")
The theatre as it appeared and today
Nîmes
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The development of the city of Nîmes further intensified due to its geographical location, since the city was crossed by the via Domitia and the Heraclean way. The via Domitia would become essential in the economic development of the city since its led from Italy to the Iberian peninsula. During the 1st century BCE Nîmes gradually broke away from the influence of Marseilles to gradually enter into the orbit of Rome. After the conquest of Marseilles by Caesar, the Romanisation of Nîmes accelerated further with the city then receiving the title of Colonia Augusta Nemausus, allowing the city to keep a certain autonomy without the Romanisation being slowed down. Architecturally, the city took on an increasingly Roman form with an important appearance of several buildings of a public nature. Similarly, dwellings are shifting more and more from the hills to the plain which became a true symbol of the urban expansion of Nîmes. 
A
crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for
Colonia Nemausus, (the colony of Nemausus, the
local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici) can be seen all over the city,
from elegant representations on the balcony of the town hall to more
prosaic examples on the cast iron manhole covers scattered along the old
winding streets of the town centre. According to one plausible theory
the origins of this emblem may go back more than 2,000 years to
September 31 BCE when the fleet of Octavian, nephew of Julius Caesar and
future emperor, defeated that of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the naval
battle at Actium. By the
time of the Battle of Actium, Mark Antony was based in Egypt. He was
personally and politically united with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra who
was present at the Battle, and they both fled back to Egypt after their
defeat. Consequently the victory at Actium would have been viewed as
the defeat of Egypt, not just the defeat of Mark Antony himself, a point
Augustus stressed regularly not least in the erection and dedication of
Egyptian obelisks in Rome. This victory, and Antony's subsequent
suicide in Egypt in 30 BCE, left
Octavian in undisputed control of Rome and all its territories. The
crocodile was frequently used to represent Egypt and a chained crocodile
surmounted by a laurel crown (as worn by the Roman Emperor) quite
clearly symbolised the submission of Egypt to Roman control. But his
official reign as Rome's first emperor is usually considered not to have
begun until January 27 BCE when among many other honours offered to him
by the Senate he accepted the title of 'Augustus', which he adopted as
his personal name and by which he was known for the rest of his long
life. Veterans of the Roman legions
who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of
fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on
the plain of Nîmes.
The Maison Carrée during the Nazi occupation and today. During its construction, the Maison Carrée was dedicated for Augustus to the glory of his two grandsons, the consuls and military leaders Lucius Caesar and Gaius Julius Caesar. Over the centuries, the temple notably became a consular house, a church and then a museum of ancient arts. Today it is the best preserved Roman temple in the world. The Maison Carrée is a Corinthian and pseudo- peripteral hexastyle building , which measures 13.54 metres in width by 26.42 metres in length. Its thirty columns, each nine metres high, enclose the interior structure which is comprised of a cella, preceded by a pronaos whose ceiling is modern. Originally, one had to enter the cella through a large door almost seven metres high. The temple was built on a high podium which gave it a dominant position on its environment. Access to the cella is via a single staircase of fifteen steps; the number of steps always odd which was reserved for priests. 
The function of the cella was to house the statue of the honoured god or gods. The ceremonies took place around an altar placed in front of the entrance. Its architecture was directly inspired by the Temple of Apollo in Rome, of which the Maison Carrée is a reduced model. As far as the decoration is concerned, it is essentially formed by the entablature and the capitals of the columns that support it. Its composition includes an architrave divided into three bands and adorned with a scrollwork frieze. On the right the wife and son inside, where no trace of the original decor has been preserved, although it has been reconstructed. They're beside the large 6.87 metres high by 3.27 metres wide door leading to the surprisingly
small and windowless interior, where the shrine was originally housed which when we visited was used to house a tourist-oriented film on a the Roman history
of Nîmes. Building a religious building presupposes an authorisation from the authorities, in this case from Augustus. Its execution, even if it is entrusted to regional teams, would have been strictly supervised as only models inspired by the official creations of Rome could be built. The Corinthian order decoration of the colonnade are faithful to the model of the temple of Mars Ultor in Rome. The frieze is composed of winding scrolls of acanthus, imitating the frieze of the Ara Pacis in Rome. .gif "Maison Carrée Nazi occupation")
The temple carried on its frontispiece , inscribed in bronze letters sealed in the stone a dedication which has since disappeared but, thanks to the arrangement of the still visible sealing holes, the great Nîmes scholar Jean-François Séguier managed in 1758 to recompose the original text: "To Caius Caesar consul and Lucius Caesar consul designated, son of Augustus, princes of youth." Gaius and Lucius were the sons of Agrippa and Julia, the disgraced daughter of Augustus. Agrippa was Augustus' closest adviser and assistant who was the patron of the city of Nemausus, serving as the official defender of the interests of the city and of the community of citizens before the Senate of Rome. When he died he passed on the patronage to his eldest son Gaius. On the death of Gaius and Lucius, the people of Nîmes, with the agreement of the authorities in Rome, decided to dedicate this temple to them. Thanks to the first line of this dedication, it is possible to date the completion of the Square House between the years 2 and 3, according to the date of the consulship of Gaius and Lucius. The second line, placed later, dates from years 4-5. .gif "Maison Carrée restoration")
The GIFs here of us show the temple before and after its impressive restoration which took no less than four years and more than 44,000 hours of work for the teams of the architect of historical monuments, Thierry Algrin, to complete. From 2006-2007, the south facade of the Maison Carrée benefited from a renovation which allowed it to regain a sometimes disputed whiteness. This long work continued in 2007-2008 with the west facade, in 2008-2009 with the east facade and finally, in 2009-2010 for the main facade, on which it was planned to restore the bronze letters of the original dedication. Due to its multiple uses over the past 2000 years, the decor of the interior of the Maison Carrée has not been preserved; only its exterior appearance is intact. Certainly the post-Roman history of the building is eventful; in fact, it's almost miraculous that it has come to this day in such good condition. From the 11th to the 16th centuries, the Maison Carrée was used as the consular house of Nîmes; a sort of town hall during the time in the Middle Ages when certain aldermen of the South of France were called consuls. The building was then known as the Capitole or Cap-duel when it then underwent numerous transformations to adapt it to the needs of its new occupants. .gif "Maison Carrée restoration")
The Nîmes historian Léon Ménard gives a description of these transformations imposed on the ancient Roman temple: “First the interior was divided into several rooms, and even into two floors; vaults were formed there, a chimney was built there, which was leaned against the east wall, and a spiral staircase against that of the west. In addition, to light these new apartments, several square windows were made there . The consuls subsequently added something to this order. They had the vestibule closed by a wall, which went from one column to the other, so other windows were opened and a cellar was made in the underground vault of the vestibule. The porch was also knocked down." It became a dwelling house, a stable and then a church of the Augustins. It was intended by the Duchess of Uzès to serve as a tomb for her husband, Antoine de Crussol. During the French Revolution it served as the meeting place of the Directory and then became the prefecture of the Gard department between 1800 and 1807. Restored, like the other monuments of Nîmes in the 19th century, the Maison Carrée bears engraved in Roman letters on the western flank a short text in Latin: "Repaired by the munificence of the king and the money offered by the citizens, 1822." 170 years later in 1992 the Maison Carrée received a new roof, a faithful reproduction of the antique original, made up of large flat tiles ( tegulae ) and hand-moulded canal tiles (imbrices).
Germans marching past the former theatre which was destroyed by fire in 1952. Only its remarkable ionic colonnade was preserved and relocated to the Caissargues rest area on the A54 between Nîmes and Arles.
.gif "nterior of the Temple of Diana in Nîmes")
Its atmospheric ruins probably date from the Antonine period in the 2nd Century. It's not clear what the real purpose of this building was, but it was probably not a temple. It's been suggested that it might have been an Imperial cult centre or even a library.Juxtaposed against the Roman grandeur of the adjacent Maison Carrée and the modernist Carré d'Art, the Temple of Diana embodies a continuity of historical identities, from Roman Gaul to Vichy France and beyond. The site's wartime history is especially complex. During the period of Vichy governance and Nazi occupation, the Temple of Diana took on conflicting roles. 
During the era of Vichy France and Nazi occupation, the Temple of Diana, along with other significant historical sites, was co-opted for various propaganda efforts aimed at fostering a unified national identity. Such architectural monuments were used to support the ideological framework that the Vichy regime was constructing. This regime yearned for a return to a mythic, cohesive national past that they believed the temple symbolised. However, in doing so, they inadvertently created a space that invited subversion. On the one hand, it served as a place of solace and inspiration for members of the Resistance, who viewed it as a symbol of enduring French culture and civilisation. 
On the other hand, the Vichy regime, eager to tie its ideology to a grand French past, often used it for propagandistic purposes. The site thus became a contested space, symbolising the struggle for the soul of France itself. Jackson argues that the Vichy regime's selective veneration of French history, including sites like the Temple of Diana, was a deliberate attempt to cultivate nationalist sentiment, which ironically also fostered spaces that would harbour the Resistance. The regime’s ideological paradox is encapsulated by the temple; while attempting to control and define the narrative of French identity, it inadvertently provided a haven for forces that would eventually lead to its downfall. The Temple of Diana's wartime history further complicates France's collective memory, emphasizing the necessity to approach such sites with nuanced understanding, beyond simplistic narratives of collaboration or resistance. It serves as a poignant reminder that historical sites are not just passive settings where events unfold; they are dynamic spaces that participate in shaping the socio-political fabric of their times.
The Arena of Nîmes is a Roman amphitheatre built around 70 CE. As the Roman Empire fell, the amphitheatre was fortified by the Visigoths and was surrounded by a wall. During the turbulent years that followed the collapse of Visigoth power in Hispania and Septimania, not to mention the Muslim invasion and subsequent conquest by the French kings in the mid eighth century, the viscounts of Nîmes constructed a fortified palace within the amphitheatre. In 737, after failing to seize Narbonne, Charles Martel destroyed a number of Septimanian cities on his way north, including Nîmes and its amphitheatre, as asserted in the Continuations of Fredegar. Later a small neighbourhood developed within its confines, complete with one hundred denizens and two chapels. Seven hundred people lived within the amphitheatre during the apex of its service as an enclosed community. The buildings remained in the amphitheatre until the eighteenth century, when the decision was made to convert the amphitheatre into its present form. 
.gif "Nazis Nimes la fontaine Pradier")
Local Frenchmen enthusiastically saluting the occupying Germans in front of la fontaine Pradier. In November 1940 the Nîmes Committee (Coordinating Committee for Camp Aid) was created, headed by American Dr. Donald Lowrie, representing the International YMCA. It aimed to support and save refugees throughout France, writing and distributing numerous reports regarding conditions in the camps. Members of the organisations united under the Committee established contacts, developed procedures, created networks of cooperation, and established orphanages and safe houses that served as a pre-existing infrastructure available for rescue efforts when the deportation crisis struck in August 1942, allowing them to deal directly both with Vichy officials and the French public at large. Of its remarkable work, Bob Moore emphasised the level of cooperation it was able to forge between different Christian groups as well as that between Jewish and non-Jewish agencies as a “crucial factor” in the rescue and survival of French Jews, with Lucien Lazare concurring, explaining how such "organisations active in the camps had become familiar with the administrative and police machinery and knew its weak points. Trust and by now longstanding cooperation between the activists of various humanitarian associations grouped with the Nîmes Committee facilitated the rapid formation of rescue networks.” 
On the other hand, just under an hundred individuals were known to belong to collaborationist organisations in and around Nîmes with approximately 270 members of the local Groupe Collaboration promoting closer ties with the Nazis. Postwar, De Gaulle’s Intelligence Service reported that, around Nîmes, the JEN- Jeunes de l’Europe Nouvelle- helped the Gestapo locate those who had dodged the labour draft. Nevertheless, France's active involvement in the Holocaust was seen here with the Nîmes and Avignon roundups of Jews on April 19, 1943 which would culminate in the mass murder of 22,000 French Jews. Already by 1942 42,000 Jews were deported from France and systematically murdered. 
It has since transpired that a list of every Jew resident in Nîmes during the occupation was discovered in the private papers of local historian Lucien Simon. Under the address section of twelve of the names, it was marked "Chantiers de la Jeunesse". Only one of the twelve men, Philippe Presberg, was ever located, and he agreed to be interviewed in February 2009. It is known that two of the men, Prosper Chich and André Lévy, were deported to Auschwitz after the SS began large scale arrests of Jews not only in Nîmes but Avignon, Carpentras and Aix. The arrested Jews were then taken from Marseilles to Drancy. In the final year of France's collaboration, 12,500 Jews were deported from France and murdered, making the total number of Jews deported and murdered in France to be 75,000 out of a population of 375,000 Jews in the country- a full quarter of the population. Not surprisingly, there is little information about Nîmes during this time, a conspiracy of silence that began to be confronted from the 1990s onwards when increasing demands for plaques related to the Holocaust became louder. One result of this can be seen at the main railway station dedicated to the memory of deported children located in the entrance hall on the western wall.
It has since transpired that a list of every Jew resident in Nîmes during the occupation was discovered in the private papers of local historian Lucien Simon. Under the address section of twelve of the names, it was marked "Chantiers de la Jeunesse". Only one of the twelve men, Philippe Presberg, was ever located, and he agreed to be interviewed in February 2009. It is known that two of the men, Prosper Chich and André Lévy, were deported to Auschwitz after the SS began large scale arrests of Jews not only in Nîmes but Avignon, Carpentras and Aix. The arrested Jews were then taken from Marseilles to Drancy. In the final year of France's collaboration, 12,500 Jews were deported from France and murdered, making the total number of Jews deported and murdered in France to be 75,000 out of a population of 375,000 Jews in the country- a full quarter of the population. Not surprisingly, there is little information about Nîmes during this time, a conspiracy of silence that began to be confronted from the 1990s onwards when increasing demands for plaques related to the Holocaust became louder. One result of this can be seen at the main railway station dedicated to the memory of deported children located in the entrance hall on the western wall. .gif)
The statue of Pan in front of German soldiers in the Nymphaeum.
Birthplace
of Bernard Lazare, French Jewish literary critic, political journalist,
polemicist, and anarchist who was among the first Dreyfusards. Given
his reputation for combativeness and courage, Lazare was contacted by
Mathieu Dreyfus to help prove his brother's innocence. Lazare devoted
his time exclusively to the case, publishing his first paper, The Dreyfus Affair – A Miscarriage of Justice
in Belgium in November 1896. In it, Lazare refuted the accusation point
by point and demanded the sentence be overturned. The first version of
the text was a savage attack on the accusers, ending with the phrase
"J’accuse", later made famous by Émile Zola.
Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct crossing the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard. It's part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometre system built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at Uzès to the Nemausus. It used to be dated to Augustus, but new excavations suggest the aqueduct was built 40–80, probably under Claudius. Because of the uneven terrain between the two points, the mostly underground aqueduct followed a long, winding route that required a bridge across the gorge of the Gardon River. The Pont du Gard is the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts, and is unique in having three tiers of arches, standing 160 feet high. The whole aqueduct descends in height by only 56 feet over its entire length, whilst the bridge descends by a mere inch – a gradient of only 1 in 3,000 – which demonstrates the great precision that Roman engineers were able to achieve using only simple technology. The aqueduct formerly carried an estimated 44,000,000 imperial gallons of water a day to the fountains, baths and homes of the citizens of Nîmes. It continued to be used possibly until the 6th century, some parts for significantly longer, but lack of maintenance after the 4th century meant that it became increasingly clogged by mineral deposits and debris that eventually choked off the flow of water. After the collapse of the Roman Empire and the aqueduct's fall into disuse, the Pont du Gard remained largely intact due to the importance of its secondary function, as a toll bridge. For centuries the local lords and bishops were responsible for its upkeep, in exchange for the right to levy tolls on travellers using it to cross the river, although some of its stones were looted and serious damage was inflicted on it in the 17th century.
Glanum
At the Mausoleum of the Julii, located across the Via Domitia, to the north of, and just outside the city entrance, dating to about 40 BCE, and is one of the best preserved mausoleums of the Roman era. It's considered a cenotaph erected in memory of a man of the Julii family
who was granted citizenship and his name by Julius Caesar for his
service in the Roman army, following the conquest of Gaul. Henri
Rolland suggests that it was a mausoleum dedicated to the memory of Gaius and Lucius Caesar, grandsons of Augustus. With the Arch of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence a few metres away, it forms
what is traditionally called the “Antiques of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence”. A dedication is carved on the architrave of the building facing the old Roman road, which reads: SEX · M · L · IVLIEI · C · F · PARENTIBVS · SVEIS (Sextius, Marcus and Lucius Julius, sons of Gaius, to their forebears). It is believed that the mausoleum was the tomb of the mother and father of the three Julii brothers, and that the father, for military or civil service, received Roman citizenship and the privilege of bearing the name of the Julii, one of the most distinguished families in Rome. The mausoleum is built in three stages in which the upper stage, or tholos, is a circular chapel with Corinthian columns containing two statues wearing togas, presumably the father and grandfather of the Julii. The heads of the statues were lost at an earlier date, and replaced in the 18th century. 
This upper part is linked to the celestial world, through the round symbolic shape of the tholos. It houses the statues of the deceased and probably of his son. They are called the togati, upright and dignified, wearing the toga, the emblem of their Roman citizenship, obtained thanks to the exploit illustrated on the bas-reliefs of the first level. The conical roof is decorated with carved fish scales, traditional for Roman mausoleums. The frieze beneath the conical roof is decorated with carvings of acanthus leaves, used in Roman mortuary architecture to represent eternal rebirth. The middle stage, or quadrifons, is an arch with four bays. The archivoltes, or curved bands of decoration on the tops of the arches, also have acanthus leaves. At the top of each arch is the carved head of a gorgon, the traditional protector of Roman tombs. The frieze at the top of the quadrifons is decorated with carvings of tritons, carrying the disk of the sun, and with sea monsters. The four pillars arranged in a square support arcades, and thus form a tetrapyle, an arch with four openings. The top of this structure is decorated with a frieze of sea creatures surrounding a central sun disk, on each east, south and west side, the north side being devoid of a sun disk. This intermediate part makes the transition with the terrestrial world which it leaves after the fury of the battles, and ends with its high frieze at the border of the world of the living, bordered by the ocean whcih is symbolised by sea creatures on its four points. .gif "Glanum mausoleum then now")
The lowest part of the mausoleum is decorated with carved garlands of vegetation, theatre masks and cupids or putti, and with mythical or legendary scenes. Because the lower part doesn't contain a burial chamber, the monument is therefore a cenotaph . The sides of the square base are engraved with historical and mythical scenes; here Drake Winston is standing at the south face and as the relief appears in a 19th century photograph from Jean-Eugene Durand. It depicts the legend of the Calydonian boar hunt, led by Meleager, with Castor and Pollux depicted as horsemen. One horseman is
wounded and dying in the arms of a companion. .gif "Glanum mausoleum then now")
Standing on the west face, showing a battle with no clear mythological reference. A horseman is depicted in a bad position in a melee, protected by the central character's shield. On the left of the scene a group of characters with no apparent connection to the battle in civilian clothes; in fact, on the bottom-right a young boy is shown reading a document. This group is interpreted as the family of the deceased, receiving their certificate of Roman citizenship. In this interpretation, the battle would illustrate a brilliant action of the deceased, in the centre of the bas-relief, fighting in the Roman army and gaining Roman citizenship as a reward for this achievement.
As for the southern face, it is clearly inspired by the Amazonomachy, the mythical war between the Greeks and the Amazons. Here a warrior is taking trophies from a dead opponent as an infantryman unhorses an Amazon warrior, and the figure of Fame recites the story of
the battle to a man and woman. Finally, the eastern face is again easily identifiable as a battle scene from the Trojan War and the fight to recover the body of Patroclus.
In front of the neighbouring arch with the mausoleum behind me. It dates from the early years of the reign of Augustus and is considered the oldest of the Roman arches in Narbonne Gaul. On the passage of the main route through the Alps, it marked the entry of Glanum. Its perfect proportions (12.5 metres long, 5.5 metres wide and 8.6 metres high) and the exceptional quality of its carved decoration denote a Greek influence. stood
just outside the northern gate of the city, next to the mausoleum and
was the visible symbol of Roman power and authority. It was built near
the end of the reign of Augustus. The upper portion of the arch,
including the inscription, are missing. The sculptures decorating the
arch illustrated both the civilisation of Rome and the dire fate of her
enemies. The panel to the right of the entrance shows a female figure
seated on a pile of weapons, and a Gaullish prisoner with his hands tied
behind him. The panel to the left shows another prisoner in a Gaullish
cloak, with a smaller man, wearing his cloak in the Roman style, placing
his hand on the shoulder of the prisoner. On the reverse side of the
arch are sculptures of two more pairs of Gaullish prisoners. The upper parts have since been destroyed. .gif "Glanum arch restoration")
Looking
towards the archaeological site, seen from the south. In 49 BCE Caesar
captured Marseilles, and after a period of destructive civil wars, the
Romanisation of Provence and Glanum began. In 27 BCE when Augustus
created the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, Glanum was given the
title of Oppidum Latinum, giving the residents the same civil and
political status as Roman citizens. A triumphal arch was built outside
the town between 10 and 25 BCE, near the end of the reign of Augustus,
(the first such arch to be built in Gaul), as well as an impressive
mausoleum of the Julii family, both still standing. In the 1st century
BCE, under the Romans, the city built a new forum, temples, and a curved
stone arch dam, Glanum Dam, which is the oldest known dam of its kind,
as well as an aqueduct which supplied water for the towns fountains and
public baths. Glanum was not as prosperous as the Roman colonies of
Arles, Avignon and Cavaillon, but by the 2nd century CE it was wealthy
enough to build impressive shrines to the Emperors, to enlarge the
forum, and to have extensive baths and other public buildings clad in
marble.
Nearby
are two houses, one on the right with Hellenic peristyles, the other on
the road which used to be decorated with a mosaic representing a
capricorn. They flanked a small market square with the sanctuary of the
goddess Bona Dea. The peristyle (courtyard) and columns with Corinthian
capitals survive from the northern house of the antae pillars, from the
southern house of Attis from the 2nd century BC. an atrium with a
shallow impluvium (water basin) surrounded by columns, of which only the
bases survive. The house with antae with its rooms
laid out around a courtyard with a pool. It is named after two
pilasters decorated with Corinthian capitals, called antae. The house of
the antae was designed in the style of Greek houses around the
Mediterranean, two stories high with three wings and a peristyle of
twelve Tuscan columns, seven of which were reassembled, built around a
small basin fed by the rainwater from the roof, which channeled the
water into a cistern, then, thanks to an overflow, into the sewer that
ran under the street slabs. 
Behind
us is the staircase which was to serve the floor reserved for the
bedrooms. Opposite this staircase was a vestibule that overlooks the
street. The
living rooms revolved around the courtyard: culina (kitchen),
triclinium (dining room), office of the master of the house, etc. and
benefit from daylight. In
the room framed by the two antes, was to be the laraire: the altar of
the gods "Lares". If, of the decoration visible in situ, only a few
coloured coatings remain within the room currently closed by a barrier,
it is necessary to imagine that all the walls were painted in very
bright colours, and that the floors were entirely covered with mosaics.
Behind
us is the staircase which was to serve the floor reserved for the
bedrooms. Opposite this staircase was a vestibule that overlooks the
street. The
living rooms revolved around the courtyard: culina (kitchen),
triclinium (dining room), office of the master of the house, etc. and
benefit from daylight. In
the room framed by the two antes, was to be the laraire: the altar of
the gods "Lares". If, of the decoration visible in situ, only a few
coloured coatings remain within the room currently closed by a barrier,
it is necessary to imagine that all the walls were painted in very
bright colours, and that the floors were entirely covered with mosaics.
On
the south, next to the pelastre, was a large swimming pool. Water was
fed into the pool through the mouth of a stone theatrical mask I'm
sitting beside which was responsible for filling the natatio. The
original is now in the nearby museum in St. Remy but a reproduction sits
in its original position. In Roman antiquity, natatio refers to a
larger swimming pool, usually located outdoors. A natatio is usually
found in the construction context of larger thermal baths (especially
the so-called Imperial Baths), but also in villas. The wife is shown on
the right in front of the baths, with a section of the hypocaust shown
in the background. The thermal baths were built following a simple
layout, from 75 BCE. They were a focus for social life in antiquity, and
a major Romanising factor. The remains of the thermal baths are on the
east side of the street. The baths were enlarged towards the end of the
1st century and decorated with marble under Lucius Verus. The older,
northern part consisted of three rooms- the caldarium (hot bath room),
the laconium (dry sweating room) with a hypocaust that has been
reconstructed today seen here behind the wife, and the frigidarium (cold
bath room), in the foundations of which a water pipe can still be
seen. .gif)
Behind are the remains of one of two twin temples, albeit one larger than the other, shown as they might have appeared and today. They were built at around 20-10 BCE during the reign of Augustus in honour of the subsequently deified emperor and his family. It is the discovery of the marble portraits of Octavia and Livia (respectively sister and wife of Augustus) that allowed archaeologists to confirm this. In 1995, a corner of the smaller of the two temples, consisting of three columns and some elements of the entablature and the facade, in the style of the first years of the reign of Augustus, were reconstructed to give an idea of the proportions of the building. In fact, only the base is from the period whilst the podium, the columns, the entablature and the pediment have been restored identically to the fragments that were discovered during the excavations. These temples respect the Corinthian order, like many others in the neighbouring towns of Arles and Nîmes.
Walking
down the city’s main street which covers the town drains for much of
its length. Glanum did not survive the collapse of the Roman Empire. The
city's period of prosperity came to an end when it was sacked during
the barbarian invasions that shook Gaul during the second half of the
3rd century . The
town was overrun and destroyed by the Alamanni in 260 CE and
subsequently abandoned, its inhabitants moving a short distance north
into the plain to found a city that eventually became modern day
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. After its abandonment Glanum became a source of
stone and other building materials for Saint-Remy. Since the Roman
system of drains and sewers was not maintained, the ruins became flooded
and covered with mud and sediment under the alluvium flowing from the
neighbouring Alpilles. It was rediscovered by archaeologists in the 20th
century with excavations beginning in 1921 under the direction of Jules
Formigé and Pierre de Brun, followed later by Henri Rollandfrom 1941 to
1969. Since then, archaeologists are no longer on site permanently, but
return from time to time for new research. The last excavations were
preparatory to the restitution of the forum inaugurated in 2008.
Montmajour Abbey
One of the most compelling aspects of Montmajour's experience during the war was its transformation from a sacred religious site into a symbol of nationalist ideology. As Jackson argues, the Vichy regime was keen to imbue national history and monuments with a reactionary interpretation of French identity. Montmajour Abbey, already significant for its historical and religious heritage, became a poster child for the kind of "true" French culture that the Vichy regime aimed to protect and promote. During the early years of the occupation, state-sponsored visits were organised, and the abbey featured prominently in Vichy propaganda. The site became a touchstone for the regime's moral and ideological narrative, particularly its focus on tradition, authority, and Catholic values. Yet, even as it was co-opted for state propaganda, Montmajour remained a sanctuary of sorts. As Vinen elucidates, monastic sites across France served as refuges for those escaping various forms of persecution, whether Jews, Communists, or members of the Resistance. The abbey's relatively isolated location made it a less likely target for raids, and its clerical guardians, part of a religious institution historically committed to providing sanctuary, were often sympathetic to those in need. Even though the Church's role in Vichy France was often morally complex, as Paxton contends, places like Montmajour provide instances where religious ethics could counterbalance ideological complicity.
Check out the incredible restoration
The darker facets of Montmajour's significance during this period cannot be overlooked. Whilst the abbey did serve as a sanctuary, it also became a space where the Vichy regime's toxic ideologies were perpetuated. Mazower notes that France's collaborationist stance towards Nazi Germany extended beyond mere political expediency, reflecting a genuine affinity for authoritarian, anti-Semitic, and anti-Communist policies among significant sections of the French populace. Montmajour's exploitation as a propaganda tool thus betrays a degree of societal complicity in the perpetuation of fascist ideologies. It becomes an uncomfortable reminder that many in France were either passive or actively supportive of Vichy's authoritarian leanings. Even if some members of the religious community resisted, their institution was utilised to legitimise a regime whose policies led to the deportation and death of thousands of Jews and other minorities.Another crucial dimension of Montmajour's experience during the war and under occupation was its role as a repository of art and cultural heritage. As Zerner asserts, the Nazi occupation brought about significant art looting across France, often with the tacit or active participation of Vichy officials. Given Montmajour’s standing as a historical monument, the site faced the danger of plunder and appropriation of its invaluable artefacts. While some relics and artworks were pre-emptively moved for safekeeping, as Petropoulos notes, others remained in situ, vulnerable to Nazi appropriation strategies aimed at seizing “degenerate” or “enemy” art to either destroy it or display it for ideological purposes. The abbey's cultural assets weren't merely vulnerable to physical seizure. 
As Fritzsche highlights, Nazi propaganda often aimed at rewriting the cultural and historical narratives of occupied territories. Montmajour could have easily been co-opted into a revised, German-centric narrative of European history, much as other French cultural sites were. It is therefore significant to note that despite these threats, Montmajour's integrity as a historical and cultural monument was largely preserved, albeit at the cost of its temporary transformation into a symbol of Vichy ideology. The relatively successful preservation effort is also indicative of the priorities and perhaps limited resources of the occupying forces, which were more focused on political and military objectives than cultural looting in this particular context. However, this doesn't absolve the Vichy regime's role in facilitating art theft elsewhere, as detailed by Nicholas. The regime's willingness to collaborate with Nazi Germany in appropriating art from French Jews and other minority communities reveals yet another dark facet of its ideologies, which were, in essence, manifestations of fascism in French soil.
As Fritzsche highlights, Nazi propaganda often aimed at rewriting the cultural and historical narratives of occupied territories. Montmajour could have easily been co-opted into a revised, German-centric narrative of European history, much as other French cultural sites were. It is therefore significant to note that despite these threats, Montmajour's integrity as a historical and cultural monument was largely preserved, albeit at the cost of its temporary transformation into a symbol of Vichy ideology. The relatively successful preservation effort is also indicative of the priorities and perhaps limited resources of the occupying forces, which were more focused on political and military objectives than cultural looting in this particular context. However, this doesn't absolve the Vichy regime's role in facilitating art theft elsewhere, as detailed by Nicholas. The regime's willingness to collaborate with Nazi Germany in appropriating art from French Jews and other minority communities reveals yet another dark facet of its ideologies, which were, in essence, manifestations of fascism in French soil.Undoubtedly, the most somber aspect of Montmajour's wartime experience was its role in the machinations of the Holocaust. As established by Hilberg, the French police, acting under Vichy orders, were instrumental in the arrest and deportation of Jews to extermination camps. 
Whilst Montmajour itself was not a concentration camp, its close proximity to transit routes and its function as a propaganda hub indicate that it was inextricably linked to the mechanisms that facilitated the Holocaust. To argue otherwise would be a disservice to historical accuracy and memory. Indeed, Montmajour's relatively untouched physical state during and after the war offers a stark contrast to the obliterated lives and communities that were a direct result of the ideologies it briefly helped to sustain. Browning notes that Vichy's anti-Semitic policies, which included statutes on Jewish status and property confiscation, were not merely forced upon them by Nazi occupiers but were, in many instances, self-initiated. In this regard, Montmajour becomes a symbol of France's moral failures during this period; a monument to a time when parts of the French populace, administration, and even its cultural institutions were complicit in crimes against humanity. The abbey, thus, serves as a cautionary example that challenges the narrative of universal French resistance against fascist ideologies. Examining it through this lens allows one to unpack the complexities of French society during the war, particularly the tension between resistance and collaboration that was often influenced by a multitude of social, economic, and political factors. 
The Vichy regime's actions have been a subject of much debate among scholars like Paxton, who argue that the collaboration was more ideologically driven than often admitted. Montmajour, by virtue of its historical significance and wartime function, adds an architectural dimension to this discourse. The fact that it survived the war relatively unscathed can be construed as a physical embodiment of the survival of fascist sympathies within certain sections of French society, even after the fall of the Vichy regime and the end of the occupation. This latent underbelly of extremist ideology reveals itself in subtle and overt ways and should not be ignored when assessing the broader sociopolitical landscape of France during and after the war.
Whilst Montmajour itself was not a concentration camp, its close proximity to transit routes and its function as a propaganda hub indicate that it was inextricably linked to the mechanisms that facilitated the Holocaust. To argue otherwise would be a disservice to historical accuracy and memory. Indeed, Montmajour's relatively untouched physical state during and after the war offers a stark contrast to the obliterated lives and communities that were a direct result of the ideologies it briefly helped to sustain. Browning notes that Vichy's anti-Semitic policies, which included statutes on Jewish status and property confiscation, were not merely forced upon them by Nazi occupiers but were, in many instances, self-initiated. In this regard, Montmajour becomes a symbol of France's moral failures during this period; a monument to a time when parts of the French populace, administration, and even its cultural institutions were complicit in crimes against humanity. The abbey, thus, serves as a cautionary example that challenges the narrative of universal French resistance against fascist ideologies. Examining it through this lens allows one to unpack the complexities of French society during the war, particularly the tension between resistance and collaboration that was often influenced by a multitude of social, economic, and political factors. 
Montmajour Abbey, a symbol of mediæval grandeur, became a lens through which the multifaceted experiences of France under Vichy and Nazi occupation can be critically evaluated. While its function as a propaganda hub might seem relatively benign compared to the more grievous acts perpetrated during the war, its utility in furthering fascist ideologies positions it as an accomplice to a much larger, darker narrative. The abbey, like France itself, thus embodies a complex interplay between resistance and collaboration. Examining its wartime history allows for a nuanced understanding of French society, particularly in relation to the extent of collaboration and the ideological underpinnings that facilitated it. The survival of Montmajour and its art is not merely a story of resilience but also a testament to the complex and often disturbing priorities of both the occupiers and the Vichy regime. Thus, while Montmajour stands today as a remarkable architectural feat, its walls also speak to a time when it was complicit in furthering ideologies that led to some of the most heinous crimes of the 20th century.
At a
Neolithic grave site nearby, the Hypogée du Castelet (also referred to
as the Grotte-dolmen Arnaud). It's a gallery tomb southwest of
Fontvieille, near Arles. Set in an oval man-made mound on the north side
next to the Arles-Fontvieille road, it's cut into the rock and
seasonally filled with marshy water. The Hypogée du Castelet is about
20.0 metres in length with a partially covered anteroom 25 metres long
and two metres deep with steeply inward-sloping walls at the top making
it about 2-3 metres wide. The ceiling, in which there is a round opening
that was added later, consists of large panels. It dates from about
2500 BCE and is typical of the Arles area. However, artificial rock
chambers are also found in other parts of southern France and on the
Marne, as well as on Sardinia, Sicily, Malta and the Balearic Islands. 
During the war, its secluded and fortified nature made it an ideal location for the storage of arms and the organisation of Resistance activities. The French Resistance is often hailed for its bravery and ingenuity, exemplified in the creative uses of ancient structures for modern warfare. However, historians such as Furet argue that the glorification of the Resistance often overshadows the complexities of collaboration and accommodation that characterised much of France's wartime experience. The Hypogée du Castelet, in this regard, serves as an interesting counterpoint to Furet’s argument. Its utilisation by the Resistance is well-documented, suggesting that not all historical or sacred sites were manipulated for propaganda or fascist activities. While it is true that the Resistance made use of the Hypogée du Castelet, the site also witnessed darker chapters of French history during the Vichy regime and Nazi occupation. Documents indicate that Vichy authorities were aware of ancient sites being used for Resistance activities, leading to the surveillance and at times desecration of such places. .gif "Arch of Carpentras then now")
.gif)
The
town was home to France's only wartime internment camp, Camp des Milles, when, at the
start of the war in 1939, this building was used to house Germans and
Austrians who were living in the area such as Nobel Prize Laureate Otto
Fritz Meyerhof and surrealist Max Ernst. It began September
9, 1939 when the first fifty "enemies of the state" arrived. The internees, shown arriving on the left and the site today, lived there in very
precarious conditions, as evidenced by the German writer Lion
Feuchtwanger, amongst others, who was interned there twice. The Minister of the Interior, Albert Sarraut , had no regard for the genuine anti-fascists that most of them were, having fled to France already before 1936 from the anti-Semitic and anti-intellectual policies of the Nazis. Considered paradoxically as "enemy subjects", the internees were victims of a mixture of xenophobia, absurdity and ambient administrative disorder. After the French capitulation
the camp was used to hold Jews and enemies of the Axis. From July, the camp was quickly overcrowded with 3,500 internees by June 1940. During this period, foreigners from the camps in the South-West were transferred to Les Milles, in particular former members of the International Brigades in Spain, as well as Jews expelled from the Palatinate, Württemberg and Baden-Baden. .gif)
Between August
and September 1942, the French deported the remaining Jewish people in
the camp to Auschwitz. Around five trains left from the railway track
that ran beside the building. Over two thousand people including one
hundred children were deported in this convoy, the youngest being just a
year old. Of this event the Camp Chaplain, Pastor Henri Manen, recollected
During the war, its secluded and fortified nature made it an ideal location for the storage of arms and the organisation of Resistance activities. The French Resistance is often hailed for its bravery and ingenuity, exemplified in the creative uses of ancient structures for modern warfare. However, historians such as Furet argue that the glorification of the Resistance often overshadows the complexities of collaboration and accommodation that characterised much of France's wartime experience. The Hypogée du Castelet, in this regard, serves as an interesting counterpoint to Furet’s argument. Its utilisation by the Resistance is well-documented, suggesting that not all historical or sacred sites were manipulated for propaganda or fascist activities. While it is true that the Resistance made use of the Hypogée du Castelet, the site also witnessed darker chapters of French history during the Vichy regime and Nazi occupation. Documents indicate that Vichy authorities were aware of ancient sites being used for Resistance activities, leading to the surveillance and at times desecration of such places. .gif "Arch of Carpentras then now")
At the Arch of Carpentras, another Roman triumphal arch from the beginning of the
first century, in
homage either to the emperor Tiberius or in memory of his
father, the founder of the colony dating from 30 BCE which carried two
names:
“Colonia Julia Meminorum” and “Forum Neronis”. During the construction
of his Arch, the city was one of the 22 most important Gallic cities. It
marked the entrance to the forum, an official public square where
all the important buildings of the city were gathered such as the curia,
basilica,
etc.. The architecture of the Arch is similar to the Arch of
Augustus (or Arch of Susa). Rarely, the reliefs are on the side faces of
the Arch, a trait shared with that seen in Orange. A single opening,
supported on fluted pilasters, and two side faces carved with trophies
accosted by captives. For both facades the trophies , consisting of
weapons and clothing, are suspended on a tree with two branches on
either side stand two captives.
As can be seen in my GIF comparing the relief with how it appeared in
an engraving from 1800, the eroded stone which is of soft limestone extracted from local quarries, affects visability. On the west side shown here,
On the west face shown here, the reliefs present a trophy decoration. A
tree trunk is surrounded by two chained captives. The one on the right
is beardless and equipped with a Phrygian cap and a belt that holds a
long-sleeved tunic surmounted by a long coat (an Iranian costume as
represented by the Romans). At his feet lies a two-edged axe. The other
captive is dressed in an animal skin that covers his body. It may be a
Greek or Hellenised king or tyrant. At his feet is a sica in the shape of a
bird's head. These reliefs thus symbolise the defeat of
Orientals and Nordics.
After
the Roman era, the arch became part of the side porch of the later
cathedral of Carpentras, included in the outbuildings of the former
bishopric and enclosed within the kitchens of the palace of Cardinal
Bichi in 1645.
Aix en Provence
An
American signal corps cameraman preparing to film troops. Founded in
122 BCE under the name of Aquae Sextiae by the Roman garrison of Gaius
Sextius Calvinus, Aix subsequently became the capital of the county of
Provence. Calvinus subsequently set up here, near the thermal springs, a
camp which quickly became a city, named Aquae Sextiae ("Waters of
Sextius"), in order to ensure the safety of commercial transport between
Rome and the Phocaean city of Massalia. Already before then Livy had already referred to “duobus deinde proeliis circa Aquas Sextias eosdem hostes delevit.”
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Between August
and September 1942, the French deported the remaining Jewish people in
the camp to Auschwitz. Around five trains left from the railway track
that ran beside the building. Over two thousand people including one
hundred children were deported in this convoy, the youngest being just a
year old. Of this event the Camp Chaplain, Pastor Henri Manen, recollectedWhat was particularly painful to see was the sight of the little children. Because strict orders were given at the last hour such that above two years, all had to leave with their parents... Very small children, stumbling from fatigue in the night and in the cold, crying from hunger... poor little ones five- or six-year-old men valiantly trying to carry a bundle around their waists, then falling asleep and rolling on the ground, they and their bundles – all shivering in the night dew; young fathers and mothers crying silently and for a long time in the realisation of their helplessness in front of the suffering of their children; then the order to leave was given to leave the yard and go to the train.
All this happened even before the German invasion of the southern zone on November 11, 1942. On December 4, 1942, the camp was requisitioned
by the Wehrmacht and the 170 internees who were still there were
transferred to the La Ciotat camp. Camp des Milles was
definitively closed on March 15, 1943 and transformed into an ammunition
depot.
