11¼ m. W. by rail from Arles is [St. Gilles], pop. 7000. Hôtel du Cheval-Blanc. A poor and ancient town on the canal of Aigues-Mortes, near the Petit Rhône. The abbey church, founded in 1116, is considered a good specimen of Byzantine architecture. The façade consists of a bald wall with a plain tower on each side. Between these towers are three semicircular recessed portals, below an entablature resting on two single and two double columns. The capitals are Corinthian, but the pedestals (considerably effaced) consist of lions and grotesque animals in uncouth positions. Behind them, on the piers of the arches of the portals, stand in bold relief statues of apostles and saints, separated from each other by pilasters. The interior, consisting of a nave and two aisles, is 290 ft. long, 88 wide, and 62 high. In the N. aisle a stair of 33 steps leads down to the lower church, with semicircular arches on short massive piers. From the centre 7 more steps descend to the tomb of St. Gilles. All the characteristics of this church are equally well represented in St. Trophime of Arles.
16¾ m. farther W., or 28 m. from Arles by rail, is [Lunel], pop.
7300. Inns: Palais; Nord; Tapis-verd; none good. A town of narrow streets, with a park and promenade by the side of the canal. The church is constructed after the pattern of those of Carcassonne and Perpignan. On the surrounding plain an inferior wine is grown. The first-class vineyards, producing the generous white wines from 17° to 18°, are all on the neighbouring gravelly eminences.
Aigues-Mortes.
8 m. S. by rail from Lunel is the more interesting town of [AIGUES-MORTES], “stagnant waters,” pop. 4300, 4 m. from the Mediterranean, and 4 ft. above it, and connected with it by a navigable canal. Inn: Saint Louis. It is of great historical interest, and is surrounded by the most perfect old embrasured wall in France, built in the form of a parallelogram, 596 yds. long by 149 yds. broad. It is 36 ft. high, and is flanked by 15 towers. On the western side rises the famous round tower of Constance, 96 ft. high and 72 in diameter, containing two vaulted superimposed circular chambers, used by Louis XIV. and Louis XV. as prisons for their Protestant subjects of both sexes, who here suffered such cruelties that the Dutch and Swiss Governments were roused to interfere in their behalf, and even Frederic the Great is said to have interceded for them, but in vain. From the platform at the top of this tower is the highly interesting view of the flat country at the mouth of the Rhône, whence the traveller may judge for himself whether the sea has, or has not, receded from the town since the time of Saint Louis—we think not. Both the tower of Constance and the walls are the work of Saint Louis, who had a predilection for Aigues-Mortes, as he considered it the most suitable place in his kingdom from which to embark for Palestine. On 25th August 1248, after having heard mass in the church Notre-Dame-des-Sablons (fronting his statue), he and his Queen Marguerite sailed from Aigues-Mortes on their first expedition to Palestine. On the 3d of July 1270 he again sailed from the same place; and on that same year, on the anniversary day of his first expedition, the 25th of August, he perished among the ruins of Carthage. 4 m. S. from Aigues-Mortes by omnibus, or steamer by the canal, is the bathing station of Port-Grau-du-Roi. Inns: Pommier; Dubois (see [map, page 66]).
49 m. N. from Lunel by rail is [Vigan]. (See page 105.)
96½ m. W. from Marseilles, 43 m. W. from Arles, 31 m. S.W. from Nîmes, and 15 m. S.W. from Lunel, is
Montpellier.
[MONTPELLIER], on the sides and summit of an eminence 145 ft. above the sea and 7 miles from it. Pop. 56,000. Hotels: H. Nevet, the best and most expensive, at the commencement of the Esplanade. On the same side, only a little farther up, is a block of handsome buildings containing the Public Library, closed on Sundays and Thursdays, and the Picture Gallery or Musée Fabre, open on Sundays and Mondays. Adjoining is the Lycée.
In the Place de la Comédie, near the Esplanade, is the H. du Midi, the next best hotel. In the Grande Rue, the H. Cheval Blanc, frequented by commercial men. Opposite the station is the H. de la Gare. In the fine broad street, the Rue Maguelone, leading from the