“Le Rendez-Vous” Sculpture

Here, you stand in front of two odd statues on the side of the road. They are actually in front of the Art and Archaeology Museum, which is housed in the building in front of you. This museum, whose entrance is further along, facing the cathedral, opened its doors in 1850 to reveal collections of both archaeology, from prehistory to present day, and art, with paintings, sculptures, drawings and decorative art, from the 16th to the 20th century. It also features a large library holding over 10,000 books. If you want to discover the history and art of the region, this is the place to be, especially as the museum is housed in the town’s former episcopal palace, the architecture of which you can admire during your visit. But let’s get back to the two statues here. They were created by Toros, a sculptor born in Aleppo, Syria, from an Armenian family. Valence, and the Drôme in general, was home to a large Armenian community following the genocide of 1915-1916. We’ll talk more about this later, in another audio guide, but you should know that Toros, the author of these sculptures, has created numerous works that pay tribute to the victims of this immense massacre and to the suffering of the Armenians. In the 60s, he moved to Valence, before settling permanently in Romans-sur-Isère, where he died in 2020. Called “Le rendez-vous”, this set of two sculptures, one representing a woman, the other a man, was installed here on Pie VI square, in 2004, and honors the legacy of this man, a great defender of the Armenian cause, who lived here decades ago.