Saint-Remy-de-Provence

SAINT-REMY-DE-PROVENCE

On the northern side of the Alpilles lies the delightfully compacted little town of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This Provençal place is surrounded by lush green fields which are bordered by sturdy cypresses and poplars. In town, busy and shaded boulevards enclose the old quarter of Saint-Rémy, which is about half a kilometre in diameter. The streets of Saint-Rémy’s old-town are lined with medieval restored houses and lead you to quiet little squares, shaded by remarkable plane trees. Old fountains at the crossroad of two alleyways, cobbled narrow streets lined with aged buildings, boutiques and Provençal-style restaurants will undoubtedly charm you.

How to get to Saint-Rémy and the Alpilles...

The Alpilles are easily accessible by car from Provence’s main cities Marseille, Arles, and Avignon, as well as from the cities of Nîmes and Montpellier through an excellent network of motorways, the French “autoroutes”.

If you travel from Australia you could take a flight to Paris Charles de Gaulle, and travel by TGV from the airport station straight to Avignon or Aix-en-Provence and rent a car from there.

The TGV from Paris-Gare de Lyon takes less than 3 hours to the TGV stations of Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.

Visit Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the Alpilles

Provence Regional Tourism Committee:

http://www.decouverte-paca.fr/us/

Provence Tourist Guide:

http://www.provenceweb.fr/

Tourist information Centre of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence:

http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com/

Tourist information website of the Alpilles:

http://www.alpilles.fr/

Tourist information gateway of the Alpilles:

http://www.alpilles.com/

Official website of the Alpilles Regional Park:

http://www.parc-alpilles.fr/

When staying in the Alpilles, take the time to visit other renowned sites of Provence.

Tourist information Board of Avignon:

http://www.avignon-tourisme.com/

Tourist information Board of Aix-en-Provence:

http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/

Tourist information Board of Arles:

http://www.tourisme.ville-arles.fr/

Tourist information Board of Bouches-du-Rhône département:

http://www.visitprovence.com/

Vaucluse Tourism Committee:

http://www.vaucluse-tourisme.com/

Tourist information Board of the Luberon:

http://www.luberon-en-provence.com/

Get travel advice about Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the Alpilles!

If you live in Sydney and are planning a trip to the Alpilles and want to know more about its popular attractions, we can advise you. More details...

In Provence © Olivier Risnes

The largest building of Saint-Rémy is its church, the Saint-Martin collegiate, standing in the heart of the town. The huge neo-Classical façade was rebuilt in the 19th century after the 1818 collapse of the previous structure. Only the 14th century Gothic belltower stood untouched, with the flamboyant Gothic chapel of Renaud d’Alleins at its foot. The view of the Gothic belltower of Saint-Martin against the backdrop of the Alpilles has become an iconic local vista.

The church is renowned for its organ chest, restored in 1982 by organ maker Pascal Quoirin. Saint-Rémy welcomes the best organ musicians of the world for the occasion of the Organa Festival, and free concerts take place inside the church at 5.30pm every Saturday between July and September.

Vincent Van Gogh spent only one year in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, from May 1889 to May 1890. Coming from Arles, he requested to be put into medical care in the Saint Paul de Mausole hospital, 1km south of the town. The painter was inspired by the quality of light and the beauty of the local landscapes, and completed more than 150 paintings and numerous sketches during his time there.

Some of his most famous paintings, created during his stay in Saint-Rémy include “The Irises”, “Starry Night”, “Olive Grove in the Evening”, “Field of Wheat with Cypress Tree”, “First Steps”, “Reaper in a Field of Wheat”, “La Siesta”, “The Paving Stone Layers”, “St. Paul Hospital”, and “Vase of Irises on a Pink Background”.

More info on Saint-Rémy’s Tourism website.

On Rue Hoche stands the house where Michel de Nostredame (aka Nostradamus) was born in 1503. The 15th century façade is contemporary to the astrologer but the house is unfortunately not open to visitors.

Outside the boundaries of the Boulevards, several other town houses (hôtels particuliers), convents, chapels, museums and art galleries can be found on your way from the Place Jean Jaurès to the Boulevards. The Place Jean Jaurès is a busy leafy square flanked by cafés and where you can find the town’s Tourist Office.

This quiet town hits its first popular event before the summer rush of tourists even arrives: for the Transhumance Festival. On the morning of Pentecostal Day, 3,000 white merino sheep and a few goats and donkeys, flood the streets of Saint-Rémy, led by shepherds dressed in traditional costumes. The event is one of the most impressive in Provence and always draws a large crowd of both tourists and locals who come to watch the huge parade invading the boulevards which encircle the old town of Saint-Rémy. The animals are only a small number of millions of sheep and goats which leave the plains of Provence in order to reach the high-pastures of the Alps, where they stay until mid-October. In the past, this trip used to be undertaken on foot and sometimes took more than ten days. On the day of the Transhumance Festival, the town of Saint-Rémy also hosts a cheese fair and a flea market.

The monastery is another building famous for having hosted Vincent Van Gogh towards the last years of his life, between 1889 and 1890. Its name derives from the nearby Roman Mausoleum. Van Gogh’s reconstructed room is open to visitors, as are the central alley and the Romanesque church.

The estate includes a pretty 12th-century cloister, a masterpiece of Provençal Romanesque art. The intimate cloister is beautiful and peaceful, full of flowering gardens, which have been extensively photographed.

It currently houses a psychiatric hospital and, as a result, visiting is subject to the amount of people there at any one time in order to maintain the tranquillity of the place.

Official website of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole: http://www.cloitresaintpaul-valetudo.com/

Located on the flanks of the Alpilles, these Roman ruins make up one of the oldest and largest archaeological sites in Europe, along with Vaison-la-Romaine. Glanum was founded by Celto-Ligurians in the 3rd century B.C., well before the region was conquered by the Romans under Julius Caesar. Glanon – as it was called - was subsequently Hellenised following the development of trade with the Greek harbour-city of Massalia (Marseilles). The city took its name from Glanic, a Celtic divinity (glann meaning ‘shining’) as it developed around a local spring believed to have healing powers.

Glanon became Glanum during the first century B.C. when it became a Romanised settlement. Under Emperor Augustus, Glanum was elevated to the prestigious status of a colonia. New buildings and monuments then constructed or old ones enlarged: a forum, various baths, temples, a basilica; all of them organised along an extensive residential avenue.

The city was prosperous until the Barbarian Invasions. Glanum was destroyed in a raid by the Germanic tribe of the Alamanni in 260 and its inhabitants fled, only to settle again a few kilometres north on the plain.

Glanum

Saint-Martin church

Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

From Nostradamus’ house towards Place Jean Jaurès

At the feet of the Alpilles and opposite the Monastery of Saint Paul de Mausole is Les Antiques, a Roman site consisting of two ancient monuments. The triumphal arch and the mausoleum are amongst the best architectural examples of Roman civilisation in France.

The Triumphal Arch

Though the triumphal arch may not the best one preserved in Europe, it is known for being the oldest from Narbonese Gaul, dating back to the beginning of the 1st century A.D. The arch has perfect proportions (12.5 m long X 5.5 m wide X 8.6 m high) and its décor denotes a Greek influence. The pediment over the vault has been missing for a long time and the current flagstone roof was added in the 18th century. It is believed that it was built to celebrate the Roman conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar and was, at that time, located at the entrance of the Roman city of Glanum. Sculptures of fruit and leaves, symbolising abundance, can still be seen bordering the archway, serving to remind viewers forever of the success of the Pax Romana. On either side of the arch, between two columns, are figures of chained male and female captives, representing Roman might and strength.

The Mausoleum

The Mausoleum is arguably the most beautiful one of its kind from the Roman Empire which has survived to our time perfectly intact – apart from the missing pinecone which used to sit atop it. The mausoleum was built in 30-20 B.C. by the Julii. This influential family dedicated the monument to their father and grand-father who had served in Julius Caesar’s army.

The Mausoleum is made up of three levels.

The first is a squared plinth whose four sides are decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the heroic events of deceased relatives: battles of horsemen and the infantry around a dead warrior, boar hunting and a fighting scene against an Amazon.

The second level is a triumphal arch with four archways which explains the link between the later heroic events and Caesar’s victories. The Latin inscription beneath the frieze reads:

“SEX · M · L · IVLIEI · C · F · PARENTIBVS · SVEIS”

(Sextius, Marcus and Lucius Julius, sons of Gaius, to their forbearers).

The third and last level consists of a colonnaded temple which covers the statues of the deceased.

Les Alpilles vues de Saint-Rémy by V. Van Gogh

There are a few beautiful houses worth seeing in Saint-Rémy: the Hôtel de Sade, the Hôtel Mistral de Mondragon, the Hôtel de Lubières and the Hôtel Estrine.

The Hôtel de Sade

The Hôtel de Sade is situated on Place Favier and houses an archaeological museum devoted to the nearby Roman ruins of Glanum. The townhouse was a priory before being used as the town’s parish church. It was later utilised to store the cereal crops for the bishop of Avignon. The singular arch that stretches across the street was commissioned by Hélène Hugolin de Fos in the 15th century in order to connect her family residence to a new edifice.

The Hôtel Mistral de Mondragon

The Hôtel Mistral de Mondragon is located next to the Hôtel de Sade on Place Favier. It is a magnificent Renaissance townhouse from the 16th century richly decorated with sculptures, a staircase tower overlooking a beautiful central courtyard. The townhouse takes its name from the Mistral de Mondragon family who built it, and it changed hands several times until the municipality bought it in 1921 to house the city museum. It currently houses the Musée des Alpilles and displays an attractive range of traditional folk art as well as industrial and rural items belonging to this region of Provence. The museum has recently reopened after extensive restoration works.

The Hôtel de Lubières

On Boulevard Marceau stands the 17th century Hôtel de Lubières. This private townhouse is also known as the Maison de l’Amandier and features a remarkable spiral staircase leading up to rooms with high-beamed ceilings. The mansion is devoted to the protection and promotion of the natural plant species of the Alpilles, and most particularly to the almond tree. The house exhibits the works of a sculptor working with almond wood, as well as other temporary exhibitions.

The Hôtel Estrine

The Hôtel Estrine (rue Estrine) was built in 1748 by Joseph de Pistoye and is a good example of Provençal 18th-century architecture. In 1794, it was acquired by Louis Estrine, a successful merchant from Marseilles, who gave his name to the mansion. After being bought by the municipality in 1985, the townhouse was restored in 1989 to house a museum dedicated to Van Gogh: the “Centre d’Art-Présence-Van Gogh”. Full sized reproductions of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings are on display, as well as some contemporary art. Every year, the museum presents a different aspect of Van Gogh’s work as well as audio-visual presentations of the Dutch painter and his life and work.

Saint--Rémy’s townhouses

The Transhumance Festival

Monastery of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole

Les Antiques

The new town they built, using stones from Glanum, is now Saint-Rémy de Provence. For centuries, nobody knew of the existence of Glanum and the only Roman monuments visible were the Mausoleum and the Triumphal Arch (les Antiques).

However, since 1921, the site of Glanum has been excavated by archaeologists and has revealed these amazing ruins to the world. Today, visitors can stroll again through the heart of the ancient town, along the main street flanked by the foundations of ruined villas. Viewpoints are located along the path leading to the Gaul sanctuary and give an interesting perspective of the site as a whole.

Glanum page in the Monuments Nationaux’ website: http://glanum.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

Before Saint-Rémy de Provence existed, the site was known as Glanum.

The Roman ruins at Glanum and the Church of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the distance.