Provence

We spend the day in and around Nimes, a flourishing modern city which contains some of the greatest monuments of Roman Gaul. We start at the highest point, climbing through the Jardin de la Fontaine, past the Spring of Nemausus which gave the city its name, to the Tour Magne, part of the defences since prehistoric times and which affords panoramic views over the city. Continue downhill, exploring the castellum divisiorum (the dividing point for the aqueduct channel), the famous and beautiful Maison Carrée, finishing at the amphitheatre and the Archaeological Museum.

Our day will begin at Glanum, the Gallo-Greek and Roman town set in a cleft in the rocks of Les Alpilles, on the outskirts of St. Rémy de Provence. The town grew up around a spring to the god Glan and the sanctuary continued to be used in the Roman period. We explore the site, the arch and the mausoleum, known together as Les Antiques before continuing to the Pont du Gard. This graceful bridge is just one part of the Roman aqueduct which carried water to Nimes. It supports the channel which took the water across the valley of the Gardon River. The aqueduct has one of the shallowest gradients of any known from the Roman period and the ingenuity of the engineers in overcoming the logistical problems of the terrain is impressive.

Today we visit Orange, here the wealth of the Roman town is evident from its public monuments, some of which have survived because they became part of later defences. We begin with the famous triumphal arch which dominates one of the major routeways through the town and its theatre, one of the best preserved in the Roman world. The energetic can climb to the top of the hill of St. Eutrope behind the theatre, and enjoy magnificent views over Orange. Continue to Vaison-la-Romaine, for a visit to the ruined Roman town, which was excavated and somewhat controversially restored in the first half of the 20^th century. The ruins are haunting and the new site museum excellent.

We spend the day in and around Arles. This city occupied a position of strategic importance in the Roman period, sitting on a low hill beside the River Rhone at the apex of the delta. Our walking tour around the town centre will include the amphitheatre, the theatre, St. Trophime cathedral, the Roman cryptoporticus and the Baths of Constantine. In the afternoon we will visit the impressive new Archaeological Museum beside the site of the Roman circus. We return to St. Remy via Barbegal where we will visit the mill and aqueduct, the largest surviving powered industrial unit in the classical Mediterranean world.

Our focus today is on the culture of the Gaulish people who were conquered by the Romans.  We visit the extensive remains of the oppidum at Entremont where stone statuary identified as being dedicated to the cult of the severed head has been found. Dismembered heads were either embalmed in oil or coated in fresh clay and then exhibited in egg-shaped alcoves carved especially for the purpose within the monolithic columns and overriding lintels of the sanctuary proper. We continue to Aix-en-Provence to explore the Musee Granet which contains the extraordinary finds including ‘dead heads’ depicted in stone.  

Our tour comes to an end and we transfer to the airport for our flight home.