Arles, France 2 Cathedral

travel videos & photos at: https://townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links. The former cathedral of Arles, called Eglise San Trophime, has a fantastic series of Byzantine sculptures around the door on the façade that have been recently restored to their pristine beauty. The interior is also from the Byzantine, older than the Gothic. It's quite a church, and another UNESCO World Heritage site. Be sure to find the Cloister of San Trophime, tucked away around the corner. This cloister is like an open-air museum with architecture and sculpture spanning a 300-year period: gothic pointed arches on one side, and older, Romanesque barrel-vaulting on the other side. The open court in the center is surrounded by beautiful columns, each with different, detailed stone carvings on their capitals, and corner columns especially noted for their realistic, gothic statues representing various saints. It's a calm and peaceful place. Arles, in Provence, in the south of France.