The beautiful crypt below the altar of the Cathedral – the Shrine of the Martyrs – was built under the auspices of Archbishop Francesco Maria de Esquivel in 1618. He is buried at the top of the staircase and bears an uncanny likeness to George Michael. Divided over three chapels there are 179 niches which contain relics of martyrs that…
Triumphal Arch of Orange, Arc de triomphe d’Orange, Orange, France If you walk out of the main heart of Orange, going north, you’ll get to what I thought was the most interesting place in the town. It is the oldest surviving triple Roman Arch that still has some of its decoration visible. Though maybe not as impressive or as dense with…
Cathedral of Our Lady of Nazareth, Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, Orange, France Despite the fact that this church is still referred to as a Cathedral – it isn’t. It has been a simple parochial church since 1877, when they lost their bishop and came under the sphere of Avignon. How it has kept its title is a mystery, because quite frankly the…
Basilica of San Saturnino, Basilica di San Saturnino, Cagliari, Sardinia Located in a bit of a park, the dinky church of St Saturnino is the oldest that still stands in Cagliari. Sadly, there’s not much to it anymore, but since the poor building has had quite a battering over the centuries, it’s not surprising. The church is dedicated to the…
Museum of Art and History, Musee d’Art et d’Histoire, Orange, France The promising and spruced-up Museum of Art and History in Orange was – like the rest of the town – something of a disappointment. With my usual luck, parts were closed off, due to refurbishments, but I’m not sure that even if I’d seen their full collection, I would…
Roman Theatre of Orange, Théâtre antique d’Orange, Orange, France As part of my summer trip to the South of France, after over twenty years of eager anticipation, I finally made it to the Roman Theatre in Orange. And, crushingly, I was disappointed. The theatre is widely publicised as being one of the best preserved Roman theatres of Europe, but somehow it…
L’hôtel de Cabrières-Sabatier d’Espeyran, Montpellier, France Right next door to the Fabre Museum is the Hôtel de Cabrières-Sabatier d’Espeyran, a town house, which says it is dedicated to decorative arts. That could mean anything, and in this case it means that they have 19th century rooms, and a basement area with ceramics and metalwork. The house was built in 1873/4 by…
The Fabre Museum, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France Montpellier doesn’t have many museums, but it does have what is said to be one of the finest art collections in France. The Fabre Museum is home to a good collection of paintings that not only shows off some of the country’s best known artists but specifically highlights some local boys, like Frédéric Bazille.…
Gladiators: heroes of the Colosseum, Gladiateurs, héros du Colisée, at the Musée de la Romanité, Nîmes, France In my usual not-very-efficient way, I’m writing about an exhibition which has now closed. It was, however, a very neat and well thought out exhibition at the Musée de la Romanité about gladiators in the Roman world, possibly because it’s been on a world…
…continued from Part Three… The section on the post-Roman Nîmes is also basically an exhibition on Christian art. There are some lovely medieval fragments which show the prosperity of Nîmes in the 1200s – a time when the nearby town of Aigues-Mortes was a prosperous Mediterranean port. There isn’t an awful lot on show, but what they have is…
…continued from Part Two… This part continues to look at the Roman objects on show in the museum, including some extraordinary mosaics and even frescoes…. There is a large section dedicated to funerary stele, which were really interesting. Although I don’t usually like the use of multimedia technology, I did like the way that some of the stones had moving…
