Places of Interest - France

The theater:

The city itself has two Roman monuments that are on the UNESCO World Heritage of which the theater is the most impressive. This was built around the beginning of our era and is one of the best preserved examples of Roman architecture in France. The theater was built in the 1st century AD. and the stage wall is 103 meter long and 36 meter high. It played an important role in city life. One could look among other things at pantomime, speeches by poets and Attic comedies. On the stage there were the biggest pieces of scenery and with the help of machines all kinds of special effects could be created. The access to the performances, which often lasted all day, was free of charge so everybody could take a look.  

The Roman empire changed dramatically during the 4th century under the influence of the rising religion Christianity. In the year 391 the theater in Orange was closed by official decision, because the church objected to – in their eyes immoral performances. The theater was abandoned and decayed in the centuries that followed. In the Middle Ages, the building was plundered by barbarians and served as a defense post. During the religious conflicts in the 16th century, the theater was used by the citizens as a refuge. The building also served as a prison during the French Revolution. Although the theater has been renovated, it has also been well preserved. It is striking that the 103-meter-long stage building is still virtually intact, whereas this has completely disappeared in virtually all other antique theaters. Of the estimated 10,000 seats, 7,000 have been restored. The upper rows of the stands have not been rebuilt.

The triumphal arch

Research has shown us that the arch must be built during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus. It is built at the former via Agrippa, in honor of the veterans of the Gallic War, and the second legion. Later it was reconstructed by order of Emperor Tiberius, in honor of the victories of "Germanicus Julius Caesar" on the Germanic people in the Rhineland. The arch is decorated with reliefs of various military subjects, such as sea battles and the battle against Germans and Gauls. On one of the depicted battles a soldier can be seen holding a shield bearing the weapon of the Legio II Augusta. Since 1981, the arch, together with the Roman Theater of Orange, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

Other attractions:

In the city there are two Protestant temples and the Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth Cathedral, a national monument of France. 

There was already an earlier Celtic settlement on the site of nowadays Orange before the Romans arrived here. In the year 105 BC. an important battle was fought between two Roman armies on one side and the armies of the Cimbren and the Teutons. The city "Arausio" was founded around the years 35 to 30 BC. by the veterans of the Second Roman Legion. The name Arausio was derived from the name of a local Celtic water god. According to tradition, in 793 the city was conquered by a courtier of Charlemagne, Guillaume au Cornet, on the Saracens. He became Count of Orange, founded a monastery at the end of his life and left it all his possessions. In 1393 the principality passed into the hands of the de Chalon family. In 1530 Philibert, the last of that house, died and René van Nassau, the son of Philiberts sister Claudia inherited the principality. He was Lord of the Dutch city of Breda and Prince of Orange. He also died without offspring and so the principality comes to his nephew William the Silent. The city was thus gradually involved in the religious struggle that manifested itself throughout Europe. 

However, the principality remained in the hands of the Oranges and Prince Maurice reinforced the city into a modern fortress. The disaster year 1672 also had consequences for Orange. In 1673 Louis XIV succeeded in completely destroying the castle. In 1702, after the death of William III, the principality passed to the princes of Bourbon-Conti, which meant the end of Protestantism in 1703. Louis XIV took the city and the Protestant inhabitants had to leave. At the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the attachment to France was permanently recognized. In 1731, the principality was incorporated into the French province of Dauphiné and ceased to exist as an independent state. It remained a province within that province; it was almost completely surrounded by the "Comtat Venaissin" (now region "Vaucluse"), a papal state that remained independent for a little more than a century, before being swallowed up by France. Before the 1983 constitutional amendment, the title only applied to direct heirs in the male line. The last bearer of the title Prince of Orange from the House of Orange-Nassau was the Crown Prince Alexander, who died in 1884, a son of King William III and Queen Sophie. When crown prince Willem-Alexander in 1980 by the enthronement of his mother Prince of Orange was, the title was thus almost a century not used. The current (and first) princess of Orange has been crown princess Catherina-Amalia since the succession to the throne of King Willem-Alexander, the current Prussian Prince of Orange is Georg Friedrich.