Just as social, political and religious life revolved around the forum in Roman Arles so this busy plane-tree-shaded square buzzes with cafe life today. Underneath it lie the underground galleries of Cryptoportiques – the forum's subterranean foundations and buried arcades (89m long and 59m wide). These were carved out – the plaza was lower in Roman times – in the 1st century BC. Access is from the Hôtel de Ville on place de la République.
