Orange, France Attractions

Orange lies in the Lower Rhône Valley, its fertile alluvial lands being used for intensive fruit and vegetable cultivation. The town is famous above all for its famous buildings dating from the Roman era.

The Rhône flows past, about 6km/4mi distant from the town, at the point where the River Aigues flows into it. The expressway coming from the north divides near the town into two branches, one in the direction of Marseilles and the other in the direction of Nîmes.

It was in front of the walls of Orange, or as it was known in ancient times, Arausio, that the first encounter took place between the Roman army and the Cimbri and Teutons - an encounter in which 100,000 Romans lost their lives. Three years later Marius carried out the counter-attack at Aix. In the period of the ensuing "Pax romana", Orange had four times as many inhabitants as it has today. Later it was to become the capital of the tiny princedom of Orange and in 1531 came under the control of the Dutch House of Nassau. For this reason the Queen of the Netherlands even to this day carries the title of Princess of Orange-Nassau. In 1713 Orange was ceded to France under the Treaty of Utrecht.