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Founded: 14th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Valois Dynasty and Hundred Year's War (France)
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The Governor's Citadel and Palace in Bastia dates back to the 14th century. The former palace of the Genoese governors houses the municipal museum, formerly the Ethnology Museum of Corsica.Abutting the old fortress tower and decorated with a 14th-century campanile, the Palace of Governors over the centuries guarded Terra Nova and beyond the ramparts of the Old Port. The city has undertaken a program of renovation of the palace under the direction of architects Cléris Daniel and Jean-Michel Daubourg.
Besides the renovation of the palace the work helped to rebuild the part of the monument that was destroyed in 1943 during the fighting for the liberation of Corsica. The new museum was inaugurated in June 2010. The museum collections are organized into four themes: birth and urban growth, centre of power, cultural centre, and the Palace of Governors. The turret of the submarine Casabianca was preserved in the courtyard until the renovations.
The two-tiered Roman amphitheatre is probably the most prominent tourist attraction in the city of Arles, which thrived in Roman times. Built in 90 AD, the amphitheatre was capable of seating over 20,000 spectators, and was built to provide entertainment in the form of chariot races and bloody hand-to-hand battles. Today, it draws large crowds for bullfighting as well as plays and concerts in summer.
The building measures 136 m in length and 109 m wide, and features 120 arches. It has an oval arena surrounded by terraces, arcades on two levels (60 in all), bleachers, a system of galleries, drainage system in many corridors of access and staircases for a quick exit from the crowd. It was obviously inspired by the Colosseum in Rome (in 72-80), being built slightly later (in 90).
With the fall of the Empire in the 5th century, the amphitheatre became a shelter for the population and was transformed into a fortress with four towers (the southern tower is not restored). The structure encircled more than 200 houses, becoming a real town, with its public square built in the centre of the arena and two chapels, one in the centre of the building, and another one at the base of the west tower.
This new residential role continued until the late 18th century, and in 1825 through the initiative of the writer Prosper Mérimée, the change to national historical monument began. In 1826, expropriation began of the houses built within the building, which ended by 1830 when the first event was organized in the arena - a race of the bulls to celebrate the taking of Algiers.
Arles Amphitheatre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with other Roman buildings of the city, as part of the Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments group.