Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur

A settlement with the name Ra had existed here in very early times. A priory of Montmajour Abbey (aka "Abbaye Notre Dame de Montmajour") was founded by the bishop of Arles within the 6th century. This was named "Sancta Maria de Ratis". Later the monastery got raided by Vikings and Saracens. The church was erected within the 12th century. A medieval legend told that the "Three Maries" (Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome Mary Jacobe) and their servant Sarah cast adrift here together with Joseph of Arimathea (who had the Holy Grail with him, and who from here later travelled to Britain). When in 1448 relics of Marie Jacobé and Marie Salomé were discovered, pilgrimage to this place developed, so the the church had to be enlarged. The low-ceilinged crypt is not a a place for claustophobic or heat-sensitive visitors. Here are the relics of Saint Sarah (aka "Sarah the Black"), once the Maries´ maid. Following the legends, Sarah was a native of Upper Egypt. She is the mythic patron saint of the Gypsies.

A settlement with the name Ra had existed here in very early times. A priory of Montmajour Abbey (aka "Abbaye Notre Dame de Montmajour") was founded by the bishop of Arles within the 6th century. This was named "Sancta Maria de Ratis". Later the monastery got raided by Vikings and Saracens. The church was erected within the 12th century. A medieval legend told that the "Three Maries" (Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome Mary Jacobe) and their servant Sarah cast adrift here together with Joseph of Arimathea (who had the Holy Grail with him, and who from here later travelled to Britain). When in 1448 relics of Marie Jacobé and Marie Salomé were discovered, pilgrimage to this place developed, so the the church had to be enlarged. The low-ceilinged crypt (not a place for claustophobic or heat-sensitive visitors) holds the relics of Saint Sarah (aka "Sarah the Black"), once the Maries´ maid. Following the legends, Sarah was a native of Upper Egypt. She is the mythic patron saint of the Gypsies what makes Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to a pilgrimage destination for the european Roma (Gypsies). Every year in May thousends of Gypsies gather here for a weeklong religious festival. The statue of Saint Sarah, seen here, and other statues will then be taken to the sea in a pompous procession. As this is a major event for the tourists as well, the Tourist office has a website about: www.saintesmaries.com/en/home/pilgrimages/gypsies-pilgrim...

The cloister of Saint-Trophime - and the bell tower over the crossing of the church. The cloister forms a rectangle 28m x 25m. The two sides of the cloister seen from here differ. The right side is one of the two sides built in romanesque style (1160 / 1180). these are the nothern and eastern sides. Due to economic decline of Arles all constructions came to halt for a long period, so western and southern sides were erected during the 14th and 15th century in gothic style. I am standing on the flat roof of the cloister, that is accessible via a staircase. One reason for this construction was the lack of drinking water in medieval times. Via these roofs all rainwater was funneled into a into a cistern.

A settlement with the name Ra had existed here in very early times. A priory of Montmajour Abbey (aka "Abbaye Notre Dame de Montmajour") was founded by the bishop of Arles within the 6th century. This was named "Sancta Maria de Ratis". Later the monastery got raided by Vikings and Saracens. The church was erected within the 12th century. A medieval legend told that the "Three Maries" (Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome Mary Jacobe) and their servant Sarah cast adrift here together with Joseph of Arimathea (who had the Holy Grail with him, and who from here later travelled to Britain). When in 1448 relics of Marie Jacobé and Marie Salomé were discovered, pilgrimage to this place developed, so the the church had to be enlarged. The small crypt (see the previous photos) holds the relics of Saint Sarah (aka "Sarah the Black"), once the Maries´ maid. Following the legends, Sarah was a native of Upper Egypt. She is the mythic patron saint of the Gypsies what makes Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to a major pilgrimage destination for the european Roma (Gypsies). Over the last decades probably millions of small candles burnt in that low-ceilinged crypt - and as the small rectangular window is the only "chimney" of the crypt, the soot has blackened the whitish stones around.

In 2010 I had started to walk the Via Tolosana here, in front of Saint-Trophime. The (maybe) oldest known tourist guidebook "Codex Calixtinus", written by Aimeric Picaud, an account of his journey to Santiago de Compostella around 1140, describes two point to be visited in Arles: Alyscamps, the necropolis around Saint Honoratus, and Saint-Trophime. At that time the facade of Saint-Trophime was not existing, as it was added to the building 1170-1180 after a long renovation of the church. The architects of the facade, that is a kind of narthex, may have known the (still standing) triumphal arch of the Roman settlement of Glanum (today Saint Rémy-de-Provence, 25kms northeast). Everything was brandnew, when end of July 1178 Frederick I Barbarossa walked through this portal and was crowned here "King of Burgundy". During the French Revolution this church served the revolutionists as a "Temple of Reason", but even the delicate carvings of the facade were not damaged, other as in nearby Saint-Gilles. One of the many details, that I overlooked before, is this "Dream of the Magi".