[5][6] It is cognate with the name of other ancient settlements, including Arausa, Arausia, Arausona (Dalmatia) and the nearby Oraison (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

No longer a residential bishopric, Arausio, as it is called in Latin, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

The sovereign Carolingian counts of Orange had their origin in the eighth century; they passed into the family of the lords of Baux.

When William the Silent, count of Nassau, with estates in the Netherlands, inherited the title Prince of Orange in 1544, the principality was incorporated into the holdings of what became the House of Orange-Nassau.

His son, Maurice of Nassau (Prince of Orange after his elder brother died in 1618), with the help of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, solidified the independence of the Dutch republic.

The city remained part of scattered Nassau holdings until it was repeatedly captured by the forces of Louis XIV during his wars of the late 17th century.

Orange attracted international attention in 1995, when it elected a member of the National Front (FN), Jacques Bompard, as its mayor.

Bompard left the FN in 2005 and became a member of the conservative Movement for France (MPF) until 2010, when he founded the League of the South (LS).

The Triumphal Arch is of uncertain age, but current research accepts the inscription as evidence of a date during the reign of emperor Augustus.

The arch also contains an inscription dedicated to emperor Tiberius in AD 27, when it was reconstructed to celebrate the victories of Germanicus over the German tribes in Rhineland.

[citation needed] Many top international opera singers have performed in the theatre, such as Barbara Hendricks, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Roberto Alagna, René Pape and Inva Mula.