Russ logo

All information gathered first-hand, since 1995

  Villages /  Arles /  Arles Museums, Sites

The world's oldest, largest (and best) website about Provence

Arles Museums, Sites


 Arles Museums photo arles-antiques-museum0088b.jpg

The town of Arles has a trove of museums and historical sites to visit, including a Roman Arena, Roman Theater, Forum, Baths and the fabulous Arles Antiques Museum full of unique Roman artifacts.

Arles | Museums and Sites |

Entry cost (2015) of the museums and site of Arles ranges from 3.00 € to 8.00€. You'll have to add a 1.00 € supplement to the price of all tickets during July and August, making the range from 4.00 to 9.00 €.

There are two Pass Monument tickets available that allow you to visit several museums for a much-reduced price.

  • Freedom Pass (Pass Liberté) cost 9 € per person and is valid for 1 month. It allows you to visit up to 5 sites during that period: one museum of your choice and four buildings or monuments.
  • Advantage Pass (Pass Advantage) cost 13.50 € per person and is valid for 1 year. It allows you to visit all museums, monuments and buildings. (Note - this allows you one visit per site or museum)

The Monument Passes are available from the Arles tourist office, or online via the Office de Tourisme website.

Closed. In addition to the Open-Closed times, the Arles museums and sites are closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Nov, 25 Dec.
The Roman Arena is closed for visits during its major events, such as Feria de Paques, Feria du Riz, Fetes d'Arles, etc.
The Roman Theatre Antique is closed for other events 5 July, and several dates 14 July to 15 Aug from 16h for concerts.
 

Arles Amphitheatre

Built in 70-80 AD, three of the original four donjon towers remain, along with most of the walls. The walls were two-leveled, each with 60 arches. The entrance is on the north side, opposite the Bvd des Lices. The arena was transformed into a château-fort in the 12th century, and during the middle ages it was filled with tunnels, shops and houses. Restoration to its current state began in the 19th century.

Location: Center of town. Entry is at the north end, where Rue Voltaire joins Rond Point des Arènes. ; (entry: GPS 43.678345, 4.630753)

Open: Open all day, 9h-19h (9h-18h Oct-Apr)

Entry: € 8.00 (€9 July-Aug)

Arles Roman Arena

Arles Theatre Antique

The theater originally sat 10 to 15,000 spectators, and is one of the earliest free-standing theaters using radiating walls and galleries. The twin columns, which were described in the Middle Ages as a place for pagan sacrifices, were later included in the gardens of the convent that was built on the site.

Location: Entry at NW corner, 1 Rue du Cloiture and Rue de la Calade (GPS 43.676936, 4.629223)

Open: Open all day, 9h-19h (9h-18h Oct-Apr)

Entry: € 8.00 (€9 July-Aug)

Arles Roman Theatre

Roman Forum, Cryptoporticus

The Roman Forum was the first major Roman building project in Arles, built about 32-20 BC. Today it's mostly gone, but some of the original columns are integrated into the walls of the Hôtel du Nord on the Place du Forum.
 
The Cryptoporticus are the subterranean tunnels built as the foundation for the Forum, and they are open for visiting. These foundation passages were built as a large U-shaped cellar, to compensate for the slope down to the Rhône.

Location: Entry via the hall of the Hotel de Ville, Place de la Republique or Rue de la Calade - Plan de la Cour (GPS 43.676829, 4.627610)

Open: approx 9h-12h, 14h-18h

Entry: € 3.50

Arles Antiques Museum

Location: Presqu'ïle de Cirque Romain; southwest of the center, on the penninsula past the autoroute (lGPS 43.672230, 4.617155)

Open: Apr-Sept, 9h00-20h00; Oct-Mar, 10h00-18h00

Closed: Tuesday

Entry: € 8.00 (€9 July-Aug) Free 1st Monday of month

Arles Antiques Museum

Alyscamps

This was a legendary place of great Christian victories over the Saracens, and the place where the wonderful marble sarcophagi were discovered in the Roman necropolis, the largest collection in western Europe of marble sarcophagi outside Rome. This is still a beautiful place, although the best sarcophagi have been removed to various churches and museums of Arles.

Location: Ave des Alyscamps; 850m SE of the tourist office, a 10-minute walk (GPS 43.671502, 4.636937)

Open: 9h-19h May-Sept; 9h-12h, 14-18h Oct-Apr

Closed: 12h-14h Oct-April

Entry: € 3.50

Arlaten Museum

The courtyard of the museum contains an ancient Roman temple, probably attached to the Forum.

Location: Hôtel du Laval, 27-29 rue de la République (GPS 43.676488, 4.625996)

Closed: CLOSED FOR MAJOR RENOVATION UNTIL 2018


Camargue Museum

The Musée Camarguais is located in an old "bergerie", a long sheep-barn, in the northern part of the national park. It houses a geological and historical presentation of the Camargue, beginning with the formation of the Rhône delta 7,000 years ago, and continuing through the Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Museum reopened in Nov 2013 after being closed a year for renovation.

Location: Mas du Pont de Rousty. In the Camargue 12 km SW of Arles, on the D570 road towards Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (GPS 43.623491, 4.527416)

Open: Apr-Oct 9h-12h30, 13h-18h; Nov-Mar 10h-12h30, 13h-17h

Closed: Tuesday

Entry: € 5.00. Free 1st Sun, last Wed of month

Camargue Museum

Constantine Roman Baths

Open: 9h-12h, 14-19h May-Sept; 9h-12h, 14-18h Oct-Apr

Closed: 12h-14h

Entry: € 3.00

The Roman baths, located on the Rue D. Maisto (continuation of Rue de l'Hôtel de Ville), were probably the largest baths in Provence, and one of the last to built in southern Gaul. Construction material included stone, brick, marble, and concrete -- a feature of the Late Empire


Réattu Museum

Contemorary and modern art museum. Includes works by Jacques Réattu (19th-c), 57 drawings by Picasso, sculptures and photographs.

Location: 10 Rue du Grand Priuré (GPS 43.679190, 4.627861)

Open: 10h-18h Apr-Oct; 10h-17h Nov-Mar

Closed: Monday

Entry: € 8.00 (€9 July-Aug) Free 1st Sunday of month

Roman Circus

Circus buildings were the largest public buildings in the Roman world, and a circus was about four times longer than an amphitheater. The Roman Circus was 450 m (nearly 1500 feet) long with a capacity for 20,000 spectators. The Arles circus arena was probably big enough to race twelve chariots at at time, and the finish line in front of the the imperial box was marked by an obelisk.
 
There's really not much to see here, except for an information panel and a very small segment of the stones below the wall in front of the Arles Antiques Museum. There is an excellent scale model of the Roman Circus and the rest of Arles inside the Arles Antiques Museum (about 8 €).

Location: Southwest of the center, in front of the Arles Antiques Museum (GPS 43.672522, 4.617208)


Saint Trophime Cloister

This cloister of carved stone pillars is attached to the 12th-c Saint-Trophime church. Two of the galleries are 12th century Romanesque; the two others were added in the 14th century.

Location: 4-6 Place de la Republique, east side of the square (GPS 43.676410, 4.627794)

Open: May-Sept 9h-19h; 9h-18h Oct-Apr

Entry: € 4.50

Van Gogh Foundation

This is a foundation that promotes the influence of Vincent Van Gogh on modern art, and has varying exhibits of modern art. It has usual only a single work by Van Gogh on display. Completely restored, reopened April 2014.

Location: 36 Rue du Docteur Fanton (GPS 43.678206, 4.625569)

Open: daily 11h-19h (Thur until 21h)

Entry: € 9.00

Search Beyond


Site Map Provence Beyond


 Russ photo russ.png After 25 years online, I've decided to remove all Ads from my one-man web Provence Beyond. If the content is enjoyable or useful to you, I would really appreciate your support.


Arles Roman Monuments