Roman Arles
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Arena

Roman Arles provided grain for most of the western empire and was one of the major ports for trade and shipbuilding. Under Constantine it became the capital of Gaul and reached its height as a world trading centre in the fifth century. Once the empire crumbled, however, Arles found itself isolated between the Rhône, the Alpilles and the marshlands of the Camargue – an isolation that allowed its Roman heritage to be preserved.

A good place to start any tour of Roman Arles is the Musée de l'Arles Antique (daily: March–Oct 9am–7pm; Nov–Feb 10am–5pm; €5.35), west of the town centre on the spit of land between the Rhône and the Canal de Rhône. It's housed in a resolutely contemporary building positioned on the axis of the second-century Cirque Romaine, an enormous chariot racetrack (the excavation of which has been temporarily halted due to lack of funding) that stretches 450m from the museum to the town side of the expressway. The museum is a treat – open-plan, flooded with natural light and immensely spacious. It covers the prehistory of the area, then takes you through the five centuries of Roman rule, from Julius Caesar's legionary base through Christianization to the period when spices and gems from Africa and Arabia were being traded here. Fabulous mosaics are laid out with walkways above; and there are numerous sarcophagi with intricate sculpting depicting everything from music and lovers to gladiators and Christian miracles.

Back in the centre of Arles, the most impressive Roman monument is the amphitheatre, known as the Arènes (€4), dating from the end of the first century. To give an idea of its size, it used to shelter over two hundred dwellings and three churches built into the two tiers of arches that form its oval surround. This medieval quarter was cleared in 1830 and the Arènes was once more used for entertainment. Today, though missing its third storey and most of the internal stairways and galleries, it's still a very dramatic structure and a stunning venue for performances, seating 20,000 spectators. Although restoration work is scheduled until 2006, it continues to be open to the public.

The Théâtre Antique (€3), just south of the Arènes, comes to life during July, with the Fête du Costume in which local folk groups parade in traditional dress, and the Mosaïque Gitane Romany festival. The theatre is nowhere near as well preserved as the arena, with only one pair of columns standing, all the statuary removed and the sides of the stage littered with broken bits of stone.

At the river end of rue Hôtel-de-Ville, the Thermes de Constantin (€3), which may well have been the biggest Roman baths in Provence, are all that remain of the emperor's palace that extended along the waterfront. The Roman forum was up the hill on the site of place du Forum, still the centre of life in Arles. You can see the pillars of an ancient temple embedded in the corner of the Nord-Pinus hotel.

The Romans had their burial ground southeast of the centre, and it was used by well-to-do Arlesians well into the Middle Ages. Now only one alleyway, foreshortened by a train line, is preserved. To reach Les Alyscamps (€3.5), follow avenue des Alyscamps from the east end of boulevard des Lices. Sarcophagi still line the shaded walk, whose tree trunks are azure blue in Van Gogh's rendering. There are numerous tragedy masks, too, though any with special decoration have long since been moved to serve as municipal gifts, as happened often in the seventeenth century, or to reside in the museums. But there is still magic to this walk, which ends at the ruins of a Romanesque church.