Arles Obelisk

Arles, France

The Obélisque d'Arles is a 4th-century Roman obelisk, erected in the center of the Place de la République, in front of the town hall of Arles. The obelisk is made of granite from Asia Minor. It does not feature any inscription. Its height together with its pedestal is approximately 20 m.

The obelisk was first erected under the Roman emperor Constantine II in the center of the spina of the Roman circus of Arles. After the circus was abandoned in the 6th century, the obelisk fell down and was broken in two parts. It was rediscovered in the 14th century and re-erected on top of a pedestal soon surmounted by a bronze globe and sun on March 26, 1676.

Designed by Jacques Peytret, these ornaments changed in times of political regimes. During the Revolution, the sun was replaced by a Phrygian cap; under the Empire, the eagle replaced the cap; under Louis-Philippe, the royal sun took the place of the rooster hunting the eagle. Since 1866, the ornaments were permanently removed and replaced by a bronze capstone until a fountain and the sculptures around it were designed by Antoine Laurent Dantan in the 19th century.

This obelisk It is part of a 1981-designated UNESCO world heritage site, the Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Place de la République 6, Arles, France
See all sites in Arles

Details

Founded: 300-400 AD
Category: Statues in France
Historical period: Roman Gaul (France)

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.arles-guide.com

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Arles Amphitheatre (0,3 km)
Arles Roman Theatre (0,2 km)
St. Trophime Church (0 km)
Arles Cryptoporticus (0,1 km)
Thermae of Constantine (0,3 km)
Musée Réattu (0,3 km)
Arles and Provence Antiques Museum (1 km)
Montmajour Abbey (4,4 km)
Alyscamps Necropolis (0,9 km)


Palais des Papes (33,8 km)
Avignon Cathedral (33,8 km)
Arena of Nîmes (27,8 km)
Musée du Petit Palais (33,9 km)
Pont du Gard (31 km)
Pont d'Avignon (34 km)
Maison Carrée (28,3 km)
Duchy of Uzès Castle (41 km)
Jardins de la Fontaine (28,8 km)

User Reviews

Alvin Palmgren (2 years ago)
A nice and beautiful plaza many historical buildings and ancient-looking obelisk at it's center.
Tim & Valerie Putnam (2 years ago)
Classic civic square surrounded on three sides by public institutions, pedestrianised and of modest size it feels welcoming although the facades are large scale and relatively restrained. A focal point during the Rencontres photo expos.
Michiel Castro (3 years ago)
Beautifull town square that gives you the ancient roman vibes the city is known for.
CineFilippo (3 years ago)
C'entra Place of the city, surrounded bay beautiful buildings
Ognian Dimitrov (3 years ago)
Central City Square, here are some of the main attractions of Arles, but the most impressive is the obelisk taken from the ancient Roman stadium. Now it is in the center of the square.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

The Beauty of Cinque Terre
Photo from Flickr, copyright Frans.Sellies

Historic Site of the week

Kromeriz Castle and Gardens

Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens and described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in 1497. The building was in a Late Gothic style, with a modicum of Renaissance detail. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was sacked by the Swedish army (1643).

It was not until 1664 that a bishop from the powerful Liechtenstein family charged architect Filiberto Lucchese with renovating the palace in a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work in Kroměříž is the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle. Upon Lucchese's death in 1666, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed his work on the formal garden and had the palace rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Turinese school to which he belonged.

After the castle was gutted by a major fire in March 1752, Bishop Hamilton commissioned two leading imperial artists, Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Josef Stern, arrived at the residence in order to decorate the halls of the palace with their works. In addition to their paintings, the palace still houses an art collection, generally considered the second finest in the country, which includes Titian's last mythological painting, The Flaying of Marsyas. The largest part of the collection was acquired by Bishop Karel in Cologne in 1673. The palace also contains an outstanding musical archive and a library of 33,000 volumes.

UNESCO lists the palace and garden among the World Heritage Sites. As the nomination dossier explains, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Apart from the formal parterres there is also a less formal nineteenth-century English garden, which sustained damage during floods in 1997.

Interiors of the palace were extensively used by Miloš Forman as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during filming of Amadeus (1984), based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who actually never visited Kroměříž. The main audience chamber was also used in the film Immortal Beloved (1994), in the piano concerto scene.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2020 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.