Orange, Vaucluse

Orange Aurenja (Occitan)
Commune
Aerial view of central Orange
Coat of arms
Location of Orange
Orange Show map of France Orange Show map of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Coordinates: 44°08′18″N 4°48′35″E / 44.1383°N 4.8097°E / 44.1383; 4.8097
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Vaucluse
Arrondissement	Carpentras
Canton	Orange
Intercommunality	Pays Réuni d'Orange
Government
• Mayor (2021–2026)	Yann Bompard[1] (LS)
Area 1	74.2 km2 (28.6 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	28,949
• Density	390/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	84087 /84100
Elevation	24–127 m (79–417 ft) (avg. 50 m or 160 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Roman Theatre and its surroundings and the Triumphal Arch of Orange

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Includes	Roman Theatre of Orange and Triumphal Arch of Orange
Criteria	Cultural: iii, vi
Reference	163
Inscription	1981 (5th Session)

Orange (French pronunciation: [ɔʁɑ̃ʒ] ^ⓘ; Provençal: Aurenja (classical norm) or Aurenjo (Mistralian norm)) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France.^[3] It is about 21 km (13 mi) north of Avignon, on the departmental border with Gard, which follows the Rhône and also constitutes the regional border with Occitania. Orange is the second-most populated city in Vaucluse, after Avignon.

The settlement is attested as Arausio and Arausion in the first and second centuries AD, then as civitas Arausione in the fourth century, civitas Arausicae in 517 (via a Germanized form *Arausinga), Aurengia civitatis in 1136, and as Orenga in 1205.^[4][5]

The name Arausio can be explained as the Gaulish ar-aus(i)o- ('temple, cheek'), itself derived from an earlier Proto-Celtic *far-aws(y)o-, which literally means 'in front of the ear' (cf. Old Irish ara, arae; Ancient Greek pareiaí, parauai < *par-ausiā).^[5][6] It is cognate with the name of other ancient settlements, including Arausa, Arausia, Arausona (Dalmatia) and the nearby Oraison (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).^[5]

Roman Orange was founded in 35 BC by veterans of the second legion^[7] as Arausio (after the local Celtic water god), or Colonia Julia Firma Secundanorum Arausio in full, "the Julian colony of Arausio established by the soldiers of the second legion." The name was originally unrelated to that of the orange fruit, but was later conflated with it.

A previous Celtic settlement with that name existed in the same place; a major battle, which is generally known as the Battle of Arausio, had been fought in 105 BC between two Roman armies and the Cimbri and Teutones tribes.

Arausio covered an area of some 70 ha (170 acres) and was well-endowed with civic monuments; in addition to the theatre and arch, it had a monumental temple complex and a forum.

• 
  Orange in the Table Peutinger
• 
  Roman cadaster of Orange
• 
  The Triumphal Arch of Orange
• 
  The Roman Theatre in Orange

It was the capital of a wide area of northern Provence, which was parcelled up into lots for the Roman colonists. "Orange of two thousand years ago was a miniature Rome, complete with many of the public buildings that would have been familiar to a citizen of the Roman Empire, except that the scale of the buildings had been reduced – a smaller theater to accommodate a smaller population, for example."^[8] It is found in both the Tabula Peutingeriana and Le cadastre d'Orange maps.

The town prospered, but was sacked by the Visigoths in 412. It had, by then, become largely Christianised, and from the end of the third century constituted the Ancient Diocese of Orange. No longer a residential bishopric, Arausio, as it is called in Latin, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.^[9] It hosted two important synods, in 441 and 529. The Second Council of Orange was of importance in condemning what later came to be called Semipelagianism.

The sovereign Carolingian counts of Orange had their origin in the eighth century; they passed into the family of the lords of Baux. From the 12th century, Orange was raised to a minor principality, the Principality of Orange, as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. During this period, the town and the principality of Orange belonged to the administration and province of Dauphiné.

When William the Silent, count of Nassau, with estates in the Netherlands, inherited the title Prince of Orange in 1544, the principality was incorporated into the holdings of what became the House of Orange-Nassau. This pitched it into the Protestant side in the Wars of Religion, during which the town was badly damaged. In 1568, the Eighty Years' War began with William as stadtholder leading the bid for independence from Spain. William the Silent was assassinated in Delft in 1584. His son, Maurice of Nassau (Prince of Orange after his elder brother died in 1618), with the help of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, solidified the independence of the Dutch republic. The United Provinces survived to become the Netherlands, which is still ruled by the House of Orange-Nassau. William, Prince of Orange, great grandson of William the Silent, ruled England as William III. Orange gave its name to other Dutch-influenced parts of the world, such as the Oranges (West Orange, South Orange, East Orange, Orange) in New Jersey and the Orange Free State in South Africa.

The city remained part of scattered Nassau holdings until it was repeatedly captured by the forces of Louis XIV during his wars of the late 17th century. The city was occupied by France in 1673, 1679, 1690, 1697 and 1702–1713 before it was finally ceded to France in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.^[10] Following the French Revolution in 1789, Orange was absorbed into the French department of Drôme, then Bouches-du-Rhône, then finally Vaucluse. However, the title remained with the Dutch princes of Orange.

Orange attracted international attention in 1995, when it elected a member of the National Front (FN), Jacques Bompard, as its mayor. Bompard left the FN in 2005 and became a member of the conservative Movement for France (MPF) until 2010, when he founded the League of the South (LS).

Orange was home to the French Foreign Legion's armored First Foreign Cavalry Regiment until 11 July 2014,^[11] when the regiment officially moved to the Camp de Carpiagne in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille in the Massif des Calanques. On 1 January 2017, together with a number of neighbouring communes, it was transferred from the arrondissement of Avignon to the arrondissement of Carpentras.^[12]

With 28,922 residents (as of 2018), Orange is the second-largest commune of Vaucluse by population after Avignon and just before Carpentras.^[13]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 7,000 —     1800 7,270 +0.54% 1806 7,440 +0.39% 1821 8,307 +0.74% 1831 9,123 +0.94% 1836 8,874 −0.55% 1841 8,633 −0.55% 1846 9,231 +1.35% 1851 9,824 +1.25% 1856 10,621 +1.57% 1861 10,007 −1.18% 1866 10,622 +1.20% 1872 10,064 −0.90% 1876 10,212 +0.37% 1881 10,301 +0.17% 1886 10,280 −0.04% 1891 9,859 −0.83% 1896 9,980 +0.24%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 10,096 +0.23% 1906 10,303 +0.41% 1911 11,087 +1.48% 1921 10,766 −0.29% 1926 10,799 +0.06% 1931 11,956 +2.06% 1936 12,946 +1.60% 1946 13,978 +0.77% 1954 17,478 +2.83% 1962 19,912 +1.64% 1968 24,562 +3.56% 1975 25,371 +0.46% 1982 26,499 +0.62% 1990 26,964 +0.22% 1999 27,989 +0.42% 2009 28,990 +0.35% 2014 29,482 +0.34% 2020 28,454 −0.59%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE (1968-2020)[15]

The town is renowned for its Roman architecture; its Roman theatre is described as the most impressive still existing in Europe. The Triumphal Arch is of uncertain age, but current research accepts the inscription as evidence of a date during the reign of emperor Augustus. The arch also contains an inscription dedicated to emperor Tiberius in AD 27, when it was reconstructed to celebrate the victories of Germanicus over the German tribes in Rhineland. The arch, theatre, and surroundings were listed in 1981 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.^[16]

The Musée (Museum) displays the biggest (7.56 x 5.90 m) cadastral Roman maps ever recovered, etched on marble. They cover the area between Orange, Nîmes, and Montélimar.

In 1869, the Roman theatre was restored and has been the site of a music festival. The festival, given the name Chorégies d'Orange in 1902, has been held annually ever since, and is now famous as an international opera festival.

In 1971, the "New Chorégies" were started and became an overnight, international success.^{[citation needed]} Many top international opera singers have performed in the theatre, such as Barbara Hendricks, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Roberto Alagna, René Pape and Inva Mula. Operas such as Tosca, Aida, Faust, and Carmine Karm Conte have been staged here, many with a sumptuous staging and also receiving outstanding acclaim.

The Roman theatre is one of three heritage sites at which the Roman wall remains.

The SNCF offers rail service north to Lyon and Paris, as well as south to Avignon and Marseille.^[17]

Orange is twinned with:^[18]

Orange forms the Union of Orange Cities together with Breda, Diest and Dillenburg.^[18]

Orange features a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), with just too much rainfall in summer to have a 'Mediterranean' (Csa) classification. Summers are hot and relatively dry. Most rainfall occurs in spring and autumn, though with gentle temperatures. Winters are mild, but harsh frost and snow are not unheard of.^[19] On 28 June 2019 the temperature reached 41.0 °C.^[20][21]

• Communes of the Vaucluse department

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orange (Vaucluse).

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Orange (France).

• Roman Theatre and Museum official website Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
• Town council website (in French)
• Tourist office website