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Orange, from where Provence was left for a quick trip up the Ardèche, was a Celtic capital, Arausio. It was later colonised by veterans of the Roman Second Legion who built the theatre, the triumphal arch, temples, baths and other public buildings the Romans regarded as essential in their major cities. The present name dates from a much later period when the town was the property of the House of Orange. The Princes of Orange held it for 400 years until the French attacked and took it in 1689. Today it is more peaceful, even more so since the A7 autoroute has removed the bulk of the traffic that used to use the N7.
Before exploring, there is a good general view of the town and the nearby mountains, from the top of Colline St Eutrope by the Montée des Princes d'Orange-Nassau.
Roman Theatre
At its foot is the Roman theatre whose circular tiers of seats, which could hold up to 10,000 people, were set into the hillside. The huge façade of red sandstone, 120ft (36m) high and 340ft long (103m), was said by Louis XIV to be 'the finest wall in my kingdom'.
In its heyday, this magnificent stage backdrop in three tiers was decorated with seventy-six columns, friezes, niches and statues. A great awning was held aloft by poles whose supports are still visible. The statues have all vanished except the one of Augustus, 11.5feet tall (3.5m), discovered in fragments and lovingly pieced together. Today the Emperor even has his baton. The statue was placed high in the central niche, a Gaul grovelling for mercy at the Emperor's feet; the Romans were always a little tactless in their reminders to the local populace as to who their overlords were.
Vandals, time and wind may have eroded the wall but the acoustics are still excellent. In Roman times the acoustics were aided by the use of hollow doors which acted as sound-boxes for the actors' voices, by placing sounding boards beneath seats to act as loudspeakers, and by the careful design and construction of the amphitheatre and awning. These intricate details, the equally intricate ornamentation of the original wall and the sophisticated scene-shifting machinery are carefully explained if you take a guided tour. An international music festival is held in the theatre during the last two weeks of July.
From the museum head north along the N7 to reach the triumphal arch. It stands now in the middle of a roundabout at the centre of the busy road, at the north-east end of Orange. It is a rather inconvenient site for today's visitor but it has to be remembered that the route now taken by the N7 was once followed by Via Agrippa to Lyon. Military and naval (the latter is unusual for the Romans) motifs are carved in rich profusion over the whole edifice to make it one of the masterpieces of the Roman Empire. Carvings of naked and hairy Gauls are again in evidence, further powerful advertisements of Roman mastery.
As an antidote to all that Roman architecture, the visitor should see the ex-cathedral of Notre-Dame and the streets of old Orange. This large Romanesque church was built in the twelfth century, but needed considerable rebuilding after it was damaged in the Wars of Religion.
Old Orange - take Rue Caristié northwards from the Roman Theatre - is a delight, little streets linking typically Provençal squares, each with a fountain and plane trees shading the pavement cafes.
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Destinations in Orange
From Orange, an essential excursion for naturalists is to the village of Sérignan-du-Comtat. Go 1.75 miles (3km) along the N7 past the Roman arch, turn right on to the D976 and cross the vine-filled plain.
On the outskirts of Sérignan, on the right, is a high wall behind which the entomolgist Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) lived and worked between 1879 and his death. The 'Homer of the Insects' is universally remembered by the translation of his important observations in the Souvenirs Entomolgiques which give a lucid insight into the complex lives of the insects of Vaucluse, in a style both intimate and elegant. Fellow-scientists tended to dismiss him because of his refusal to accept Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. However, the most recent views about the theory may yet go some way to rehabilitating Fabre, showing him to be not quite the arch-reactionary he was held to be in his lifetime.
Fabre's house and garden are now a museum run by the Natural History Museum in Paris. His laboratory, collections, primitive research equipment, and child's writing desk are all on view. Fabre is buried in the cemetery outside Sérignan, and his statue stands in the village square.
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