Provence
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The Roman remains of Nismes, Arles, St. Remy, Orange, and Antibes, equal to almost any in Italy, would alone compensate for a journey to Provence, even had it no other claims to interest."--Hand-book for Travellers in France (1843) by John Murray "The Englishman who knows the S. of France only from books; who there finds Provence described as the cradle of Poetry and Romance, the paradise of the Troubadours, a land teeming with oil, wine, silk, and perfumes, has probably formed in his mind a picture of a region beautiful to behold, and charming to inhabit. These anticipations may probably be strengthened by Mrs. Radcliffe’s well-known, but perfectly unfounded, descriptions of scenery in the “ Mysteries of Udolpho.” Nothing, however, can differ more widely from the reality ; and at least it is not from this quarter that France deserves the epithet "La Belle." Nature has altogether an arid character ; — in summer a sky of copper, an atmosphere loaded with dust, the earth scorched rather than parched by the unmitigated rays of the sun, which overspread every thing with a lurid glare. The hills rise above the surface in masses of bare rock, without any covering of soil, like the dry bones of a wasted skeleton. Only on the low grounds, which can be reached by irrigation, does any verdure appear. There is a sombre melancholy sternness in the landscape of the South. The aching eye in vain seeks to repose on a patch of green, and the inhabitant of the North would not readily purchase the clear cloudless sky of Provence with the verdure of misty England."--Hand-book for Travellers in France (1843) by John Murray |
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Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille.
The Romans made the region the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana, which evolved into the present name. Until 1481 it was ruled by the counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence, then became a province of the kings of France. While it has been part of France for more than 500 years, it still retains a distinct cultural and linguistic identity, particularly in the interior of the region.
