It wouldn’t be a proper stay in Arles without a visit to Les Arènes. It’s a Roman amphitheater that was built around the same time as the Colosseum in Rome, in the first century AD. The amphitheater is just around the corner from where we held classes.

I took this picture the night of our good-bye party. The afternoon had been stormy, and the clouds at sunset were incredible.

To get to the seats in the amphitheater, you first have to go through the tunnels, called vomitoria because they enabled large numbers of people to enter and exit quickly.

Our awesome guide, Nathalie, explained to us that, during Roman times, the amphitheater was used for gladiator fights. However, this site remains in active use. Now, it is used most famously for two different bull-related events: la corrida and la course camarguaise. La corrida is the Spanish-style bullfight, normally only twice a year, where the bullfighter kills the bull at the end. La course camarguaise is a game they play with a smaller bull, where they tie an object between the bull’s horns and people run after the bull to try to retrieve the object. There are also concerts and plays that take place in the amphitheater.

Between the fall of the Roman Empire and when the local government decided to restore les Arènes beginning in the19th century, the structure was used as a residential district of the city of Arles. It contained over 200 houses, including public squares and services. Here, you can see the two remaining walls of the old houses that were built in between the arcades. Each of these homes would have had two stories and would have housed an entire family.

It was very hot in the stands that day, but the students were good sports and let me take a group picture anyway.

We got to climb up into the tower to get a better view, and there was this amazing fossil on the railing! As with many buildings in Arles, the amphitheater was build of limestone (calcaire).