Arles possesses the only ancient Obelisk in Gaul. It stands in the “place,” opposite the entrance to the cathedral, and is set on the backs of four lions, raised upon a pedestal. It was elevated to this eminence in 1676, after having lain for long in the bed of the river. The shaft is of grey granite, 47 feet high, but it is not of an elegant form, and tapers too rapidly towards the summit. It originally formed the spina of a Roman circus, where it was found in 1389. In the front wall of the Hôtel du Nord (in the Place d’hommes) are inserted the fragments of two Roman granite columns with Corinthian caps, and part of a pediment (Fig. 12). But unfortunately the traveller, while enjoying the hospitality of the patron of the “Nord,” and sleeping with his head perhaps within a few feet of these remains, cannot have the satisfaction of imagining himself a dweller in a real Roman edifice, as it is evident that they are not in their original position, but have been brought from a distance at some remote time and set up here. There are a few remnants, close to the river, of a building said to be the Palace of Constantine, including a brick tower called “La tour de la Trouille.” This is a palace which has had many and varied occupants--passing from its Roman masters down to the Kings of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, the Kings of the Franks, and the Kings of Arles, the “Holy Roman Emperors” (when they came here to be crowned Kings of Arles), and the Counts of Provence. [Illustration: FIG. 12. PLACE D’HOMMES, ARLES.] In Roman times there was a space to the east of the town used as a cemetery, and called the Elysii Campi, or Champs Elysées, now the “Alyscamps.” This necropolis was by tradition supposed to have been specially consecrated by our Saviour himself, and consequently became a very favourite place of burial. Princes and dignitaries of Church and State desired to rest here. Bodies committed to the river (along with the suitable burial fees) were sure to reach the Alyscamps. It was celebrated by the poets Dante and Ariosto, and became of world-wide fame. Chapels and churches were erected in the vicinity, there being no less than nineteen at one time. But the translation of the body of St Trophime, A.D. 1152, from the Alyscamps to the cathedral of Arles, seemed to take away the prestige of the former, and from that time it gradually decayed. [Illustration: FIG. 13. THE ALYSCAMPS.]