La Valette Boutique
Sanilhac-Sagriès, 30700 Gard, France
The best-preserved Roman theatre wall in the Western world, a triumphal arch covered in battle scenes, and the small Provençal town that gave its name to the Dutch royal family. About forty-five minutes from Uzès.
Orange is a Roman town in the Vaucluse, about forty-five minutes from La Valette Boutique, built where the via Agrippa once ran north from Arles. Its Roman theatre and triumphal arch, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1981, are among the best preserved anywhere in the former empire. The theatre still hosts a major opera festival each summer, and the town's own name, through a chain of inheritance, ended up on the flag and royal house of the Netherlands.
| Location | Vaucluse, Provence |
|---|---|
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| UNESCO status | World Heritage Site since 1981 (Roman theatre and triumphal arch) |
| Distance from Uzès | 51 km · about 45 min by car |
| Nearest airport | Avignon (AVN) or Nîmes (FNI), both about 40 min |
| Typical visit | Half a day |
| Known for | The best-preserved Roman theatre wall in the world |
| Summer festival | Chorégies d'Orange, opera, each August |
| Historical claim to fame | Gave its name to the Dutch royal House of Orange-Nassau |
From forty-five minutes away
The theatre wall is the thing photographs undersell. It rises 37 metres and runs the full 103-metre width of the stage, and Louis XIV is said to have called it the most beautiful wall in his kingdom. Standing at the base of it, that no longer sounds like an exaggeration.
The other thing that surprised us is the Dutch connection. A small Provençal town, through a fluke of medieval inheritance, gave its name to the House of Orange-Nassau and, eventually, to the colour on the Dutch flag and the national football shirt. There is very little in Orange itself that markets this fact, which makes it feel like a genuine discovery rather than a tourist line.
For current opening hours, ticket prices and festival dates, the official site, theatre-antique.com, is the one to check before you go.
What it is
The Théâtre Antique d'Orange was built in the first century AD under Augustus and could seat around nine thousand spectators for tragedy, comedy and dance. Its stage wall survives almost complete, which is rare among Roman theatres and the reason it is considered the best preserved in the Western world.
At the other end of town, the Arc de Triomphe was raised under Augustus and reworked under Tiberius in the AD 20s to honour victories over Germanic tribes. Its reliefs mix land and naval battle scenes, unusual for an inland town, with captured Gaulish weapons and standards carved into the stone.
The stage wall at dusk, lit for a Chorégies performance, is a reminder that this theatre has never really stopped being used for what it was built for.La Valette Boutique, about 45 min away
Beyond the basics
When to go
Orange is a manageable half-day visit almost any time of year; the one date worth planning around, rather than avoiding, is the Chorégies festival itself.
Comfortable temperatures for walking between the theatre and the arch, with the town at its quietest outside the summer festival season.
The opera festival fills the theatre and much of the town's accommodation each August. If you want to attend a performance, book well in advance; if you'd rather avoid the crowds, visit outside festival dates.
In the weeks around the Chorégies, the theatre's opening hours and access can be affected by rehearsals and staging. Check theatre-antique.com before a summer visit.
Practical information
Full day combinations
Morning at the theatre and arch in Orange, then thirty minutes south to spend the afternoon at the Palais des Papes in Avignon.
Two very different kinds of Roman remains, half an hour apart: the intact theatre wall of Orange, then the excavated Roman town and medieval upper town of Vaison-la-Romaine.
Ten minutes from Orange, the vineyards and ruined papal castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape make an easy addition if wine is part of the plan.
If your dates allow it, an evening performance in the Roman theatre itself, under the same stage wall Roman audiences watched, is one of the more memorable ways to spend a summer night in the region.
Yes. It's about forty-five minutes by car and holds two UNESCO-listed Roman monuments, including the best-preserved Roman theatre wall in the Western world. Half a day covers both sights comfortably.
About 51 km, roughly 45 minutes by car.
Yes. The medieval Principality of Orange passed by inheritance in 1544 to William of Nassau, who founded the House of Orange-Nassau, the family that later led the Netherlands and still forms its royal house today.
Yes. It hosts the Chorégies d'Orange, an opera festival held each August since 1869, France's oldest festival, as well as other concerts through the summer.
Yes, both were inscribed together in 1981, the same year as Arles's Roman and Romanesque monuments, with the protected zone extended in 2007.
Easily. Avignon is about thirty minutes south and Vaison-la-Romaine about thirty minutes northeast, so either pairs comfortably with a morning in Orange.
La Valette Boutique is in the Gard, about forty-five minutes from Orange and five minutes from Uzès. Two boutique apartments in an 18th-century stone house.
Enquire about your dates