Arles, which was previously known as Arelas and Arelate, is located in southern France’s Departement of Bouches-du-Rhone, on the Rhone River. The city of Arles is linked to its port, on the Mediterranean Sea, by a canal. It is a farm-trade and manufacturing center. Its products include processed food, textiles and chemicals. Tourism is also important to the economy. Points of interest, in Arles, include a Roman amphitheater, which held about 26,000 spectators; a Roman obelisk, retrieved from the Rhône River and now in the Place de la République; the ruins of a Roman theater, in which were found many works of art including the statue Venus of Arles (which is displayed at the Louvre in Paris); the palace of the 4th century Roman emperor Constantine the Great; and the Romanesque Church of Saint Trophime. Parts of the wall, around the old town, also originated in Roman times. During the first century BC, Arelas, as the city was then called, emerged as one of the chief commercial centers of the Roman Empire. An episcopal see from the 4th century until 1790, it was the site of several important ecclesiastical councils, including the Council of Arles (314), which condemned Donatism, a heretical Christian movement. The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh was very active in Arles. He painted more than 200 canvases here in 1888 and 1889.