Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

department,

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

. Located in the northern part of the

Alpilles The Chaîne des Alpilles is a small range of low mountains in Provence, southern France, located about south of Avignon. Geography The range is an extension of the much larger Luberon range. Although it is not high - some 498 m (1,634 ...

, of which it is the main town, it had a population of 9,893 in 2017.

History

The town, which has been inhabited since

Prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

, was named after Saint Remigius under the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

name ''Villa Sancti Remigii''. From May 1889 to May 1890,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

was a patient at the

Saint-Paul Asylum Monastery of Saint-Paul de Mausole (french: monastère Saint-Paul-de-Mausole) is a former monastery in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Provence, France. Several rooms of the building have been converted into a museum to Vincent van Gogh, who stayed the ...

in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and painted some of his most memorable works, including The Starry Night, which features the town.

Geography

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is situated about south of

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

, just north of the

mountain range.

Transportation

The Avignon-TGV high-speed train station is 20 km from the city. The closest airports are located in Avignon, Nîmes, and Marseille. Also, there are several highways and main roads which serve Saint-Remy. The A7 autoroute, which runs down the Rhone valley and connects Lyon to Marseille via Orange is about east of Saint Remy. The A54 autoroute runs from Nîmes to Salon-de-Provence, and passes through Arles, away. Finally, the A9 is 20 km to the north-west and runs from Orange to Perpignan via Montpelier.

Climate

The climate in the Alpilles is considered Mediterranean. Winters there are gentle and dry, and summers are hot and dry. The highest average temperature is recorded in July and August , and the lowest in December and January . The rainiest month is January with an average of 7 rainy days, compared with July, the driest month, with an average of 2 rainy days. The Alpilles region receives more precipitation than the French Rivera, 1–2 cm more per year. There are about 30 days of frost per year. Snow is rare, but can be heavy when it does fall.

Population

Sights

The ruins of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

city of

Glanum Glanum (Hellenistic ''Γλανόν'', as well as Glano, Calum, Clano, Clanum, Glanu, Glano) was an ancient and wealthy city which still enjoys a magnificent setting below a gorge on the flanks of the Alpilles mountains. It is located about one kil ...

, including a

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

, can still be seen on the southern outskirts of the city. The

in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is where

was a patient, from May 1889 to May 1890, and where he painted some of his most memorable works, including The Starry Night which features the town. The site is now named the Clinique Van Gogh for him.

Notable people

* Pierre Daboval (1918–2015), artist, lived for many years in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence * Marie Gasquet, a Provençale novelist and queen of the Felibrige *

Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (1670June 29, 1739), also known as Sononchiez by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter for New France who worked with the Iroquois tribes during the French and Indian Wars in the early 18th ce ...

, (1670–1739), French army officer and interpreter in New France * Princess Caroline of Monaco and her children lived in Saint-Rémy for several years following the death of her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi *

Pablo Daniel Magee Pablo Daniel Magee (born April 22, 1985) is a French Swiss author, investigative journalist, screenwriter and playwright. Early life and education His father is the Swiss painter, sculptor and filmmaker Patrice Stellest. His mother is a poe ...

, writer, journalist and playwright grew up in Saint-Rémy de Provence * Nostradamus, a 16th-century author of prophecies

References

External links

Saint Rémy de Provence Tourist office website

Official site
(in French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintremydeprovence Communes of Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia