UNESCO - Roman Theatre In Orange, France

This whs goes by the full name of Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the Triumphal Arch of Orange, but in whole honesty, if it took me this long to get the theatre, how much longer would I have to wait for the Triumphal Arch? So I'll show it off now :)

Situated in the Rhone valley, the ancient theatre of Orange (or Théâtre antique d'Orange), with its 103-m-long facade, is one of the best preserved of all the great Roman theatres. Playing a major role in the life of the citizens, who spent a large part of their free time there, the theatre was seen by the Roman authorities not only as a means of spreading Roman culture to the colonies, but also as a way of distracting them from all political activities. As the Western Roman Empire declined during the 4th century, by which time Christianity had become the official religion, the theatre was closed by official edict in AD 391, since the Church opposed what it regarded as uncivilized spectacles. After that, the theatre was abandoned completely.

During the 19th century the theatre slowly began to recover its original splendour; restoration work began in 1825 and in 1869 the theatre became the home of a Roman Festival, which in 1902 was renamed to Chorégies and was planned as an annual summer festival. In 1969 it became solely an opera festival.

Great addition to my collection from dear Veronique, merci beaucoup!

When I see and hear Orange I get a warm feeling, perhaps because I love the fruit and the colour, but also it sounds so lovely in French :) There is this trip idea to visit the area because it is brimming with whs but also other lovely places: from Marseille as the main airport hub, one doesn't need much time to go to Arles, Avignon, Pont du Gard, or indeed Orange! Then there are Aix-en-Provence, Nîmes, even Montpellier...gosh what a journey that would be xD