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Origin and history

The Dominican church of Arles, originally called the Church of the Preacher Brothers, was built at the end of the 15th century in a southern Gothic style. His story began in 1231 with the arrival of the Dominicans in Arles, who first settled outside the walls before taking refuge intramural after the destruction of their first settlement in 1361. The construction of the present church, consecrated under the name of Notre-Dame-de-Confort, began in 1448 with the laying of the first stone by King René, and ended before 1499.

After the Revolution, the church was sold as a national property and divided into 26 lots. Without its furniture, it serves as a warehouse and garage, while a hydraulic plant replaces the adjacent 19th century cloister. Ranked a historic monument in 1921, it was bought by the city of Arles in 1981, which undertook consolidation and restoration work, revealing sculptures from the 15th and 17th centuries. Today, it is the largest Gothic religious building in the city.

The architecture of the church is distinguished by a unique nave vaulted on dogive crosses, bordered by lateral chapels without communication between them. The chapel of Saint-Dominique, added in 1469 by the Quiqueran family of Beaujeu, overflows with the general plan. The shallow, pentagonal, and western facade, marked by a hexagonal staircase turret, reflect the southern Gothic style. A cloister, built between 1560 and 1581, remains only a door with flamboyant decoration and remains integrated into private buildings.

Archaeological excavations (1985-1988) revealed that the pillars of the nave rest on old, bumpy walls, influencing the width of the building. These foundations, still visible in the fifteenth century, guided the construction. The convent, divided into two islets separated by an alley, combined religious spaces (around the cloister) and domestic (around a cellar). At the time of the Revolution, its sale led to the partial destruction of the galleries of the cloister, only portions of which remain today.

The church illustrates the vicissitudes of religious buildings after the Revolution, moving from a place of worship for secular use before being preserved as a heritage. Its rescue in the 20th century, marked by restoration campaigns, makes it a major witness to Arlesian history, mixing medieval heritage, modern adaptations and archaeological rediscoveries. Its entanglement in the urban fabric, however, limits an overall appreciation of its external architecture.

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