St. Trophime




The Église St-Trophime, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, stands in the ancient Roman city of Arles, France.

St-Trophime was constructed in the 11th and 12th centuries on the site of an 8th-century church dedicated to Saint Stephen. St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr; St. Trophime was an early bishop of Arles. Frederick Barbarossa was crowned king of Arles here in 1178.

The Église St-Trophime, along with other monuments of Arles, was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. The magnificent portal was restored between 1988 and 1995 with the help of public funds and a large donation from the World Monuments Fund in New York.

The Church of Saint Trophime is characteristic of Provençal Romanesque architecture. On the east side of the square, St-Trophime's very well preserved 12th-century portal is widely acclaimed as one of the finest achievements of the southern Romanesque style. The recent restorations have made its quality and beauty even more apparent.

The most noteworthy feature of the portal is a frieze of the Last Judgment, showing chain-bound souls being dragged off to Hell on the right side and others being delivered into the hands of the saints on the left. The tympanum depicts Christ in Majesty surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists. The patron saints of Arles, St. Trophime and St. Stephen, are represented in prominent positions in front of the main door.

The cloisters of St-Trophime adjoin the church on the southeast. The north and east wings of the cloisters are 12th century Romanesque, while the south and west wings are 14th century Gothic. Pillars alternate with columns, the capitals of which are decorated with fine sculptures of biblical scenes. Unfortunately they are currently in pretty bad shape, blackened by pollution and patched with protective tape. (Cleaning and restoration are planned to begin in late 2008.) The pillars bear figures of apostles and saints and between them are narrative reliefs of Christ and the saints.

The Chapter House displays some Gobelin tapestries and a small lapidarium in an upper gallery.

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