Saint-Remy-de-Provence

Van Gogh admitted himself voluntarily to the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in May 1889 after the events at Arles and stayed a year, producing around a hundred and fifty paintings including The Starry Night, the olive groves and the cypresses; his room is reconstructed and the cloister can be visited, and the institution still treats patients in another wing. Beside it lie the ruins of Glanum, a town of Gallic origin rebuilt by the Romans and abandoned around 260, with houses, baths and a forum excavated. Two monuments stand outside the fence: a mausoleum and a triumphal arch, both first century.

Background

The town takes its name from Saint Remigius, Villa Sancti Remigii in Latin, and was officially plain Saint-Rémy until 12 April 1953; in Provençal it is Sant Romieg. It is the main town of the Alpilles, with about 9,600 people, some 20 km south of Avignon, whose high-speed station is 20 km away, and the A7 motorway passes about 12 km to the east. The climate is Mediterranean, averaging 29 °C in July and August and 3 °C in December and January, with about 30 days of frost a year and rare but sometimes heavy snow. The Alpilles get slightly more rain than the Riviera, and January, with about 7 rainy days, is the wettest month.

Source: Wikipedia, "Saint-Rémy-de-Provence"

What you'll find

• Saint-Paul-de-Mausole - Van Gogh's asylum room, cloister and garden.
• Glanum - an excavated Gallo-Roman town with baths and forum.
• Les Antiques - a Roman mausoleum and arch standing beside the road.
• The old town - a ring boulevard around a knot of Provencal lanes.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the fields Van Gogh painted are at their best in early summer. Summer is hot and crowded. Glanum has almost no shade.

Practical notes

None of Van Gogh's paintings are here; the site offers the setting and reproductions. Part of Saint-Paul remains an active psychiatric facility and privacy is expected. Glanum requires imagination, being foundations rather than standing buildings.

Nearby

Les Baux lies south; Avignon is northwest.

Key facts