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Templar siteBouches-du-Rhône

Commanderie Sainte-Luce

Arles

Dimensions
Four ranges of buildings (13th century, two of the 15th and one remodelled in the 16th century) around a courtyard with a well, Flamboyant doorway of the late 15th century, hexagonal tower with a spiral staircase.
Period
Founded by the Templars, an order suppressed in the early 14th century; in the 16th century it became the property of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem (Order of Malta).
What stands there
built ensemble surviving almost in its entirety; 1980s excavations revealed a paved ancient street (probably the cardo maximus) beneath the site

Set in the heart of ancient Arles, between the Musée Réattu and the Baths of Constantine, the Commanderie Sainte-Luce was founded by the Templars before passing to the Knights of Malta in the 16th century. Its architecture, arranged around a courtyard with a well, preserves a remarkable Flamboyant doorway of the late 15th century and a hexagonal stair tower. Excavations carried out during its restoration in the 1980s revealed, beneath the medieval levels, a paved ancient street probably corresponding to the cardo maximus of Arelate, together with dwellings occupied until the 13th century — evidence of two thousand years of continuous occupation on the same plot. The building today houses services of the Musée Réattu.

Commanderie Sainte-Luce — Patrimoine de la ville d'Arles ↗

Further reading

Getting there : municipal property, housing services of the Musée Réattu; can be partly seen from outside, interior not open to unguided visits

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Commanderie Sainte-Luce
Finoskov · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

This place in the great stories

In the same department

All places — Bouches-du-Rhône (22).