The Old Town Hall

CURRENTLY CLOSED TO VISITORS

The Baroncelli Museum, now closed, was housed in the former Town Hall, also a courthouse of justice and peace, built in 1876 by the Arlesian architect Véran.

It succeeds the first town hall built in 1655, of which only the marble medallions with the coats of arms of France and Navarre on the one hand, and of the Saintes Maries de la Mer on the other, sculpted by the Lyon artist Pierre Sibrent in the 17th century, remain.

Above the main entrance, 3 colours: Baroncelli (red and white), the flag of Provence (red and yellow) and that of the House of Anjou (blue with fleur-de-lis and label). A little higher on the façade is an original circular sundial.

This museum was a tribute to the Marquis Folco de Baroncelli-Javon (1869-1943), an emblematic figure of the Camargue. Lou Marquès, director of the Félibrien newspaper "l'Aïoli" in Avignon, was an ardent defender of the customs of the ecological, traditional and cultural heritage of the Camargue. He led the life of a herdsman and campaigned for tolerance. It is to him that we owe the recognition of the gypsy pilgrimage by the ecclesiastical authorities.