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Vaucluse - Churches, monasteries, oratories - Discovery idea, France

Vaucluse Tourism

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THE CHAPEL CIRCUIT IN THE DENTELLES DE
MONTMIRAIL
Distance: 54 km
Time: ½ day
This circuit takes you through the Dentelles de
Montmirail range of hills and enables you to discover
some of the most beautiful chapels and campaniles in
this part of Upper Vaucluse.
1 - Vaison la Romaine: Saint Quenin chapel
Romanesque chapel with a triangular apse. You can
enter the chapel during the guided visits offered by the
Vaison la Romaine Tourism Office (T. 33 (0)4 90 36 02
11).
2 - Saint Marcellin les Vaison: Saint Magdelaine
chapel is furnished and well maintained. To visit the
inside, request the keys at the Town Hall.
3 - Lafare: Saint Christophe chapel, 12th century
Romanesque chapel.
4 - Beaumes de Venise: Saint Roch chapel built in
1586, Saint Sébastien chapel and Saint Anne chapel
rebuilt in the 19th century. Visits are organized with a
guide from the Beaumes de Venise Tourism Office.
(T. 33 (0)4 90 62 94 39). Notre Dame d’Aubune
chapel with its 12th century campanile call to mind a
victory by Charlemagne at this site.
5 - Gigondas: Saint Cosmos and Saint Damien
chapel, 12th century, beautiful apses. In Gigondas,
Saint Catherine church. The adjoining bell tower is
crowned by a magnificent campanile.
6 - Sablet: 12th century Saint Nazaire chapel.
7 - Séguret: Notre Dame de Grâces chapel, with
frescoes and paintings, Saint Thècle chapel, now an
exhibition venue, a belfry with a single needle. Notre
Dame des Graces chapel can be visited. Call 04 90 46
91 08 for information.

THE CAMPANILE CIRCUIT IN THE LUBERON
Distance: 115 km
Time: one day
The campaniles in Provence are lovely airy structures
built of wrought iron, open and lacy to enable the
strong mistral winds to blow through. They often
top the village clock tower, or the entrance through
the ramparts, and sometimes, though not often, the
church tower. There is a definite Italian influence,
and most are thought to have been built between the
17th and 19th centuries. Ask for a document on the
campaniles at the Tourism Office in Cadenet.
1 - Villelaure: belfry is next to Saint Marc church.
The bells date from the 17th or 19th century.
2 - Ansouis: the campanile crowns the semi-circular
clock tower on the 16th century ramparts. The oldest
reference to the campanile in the municipal archives
goes back to the 17th century.
3 - Cucuron: an old stone entrance is crowned by a
wrought iron campanile with a weather vane called
the “barbaroto” (the weevil).
4 - In La Bastide des Jourdans: a tiny campanile
crowned by a large cross. The 17th century belfry was
built on top of a hill.
5 - Grambois: the clock tower was built during the
restoration work done after the 1708 earthquake.
The Occitan clock-tower bears bells dated in 1584.
There is a cross embellished with scrolls and topped
by the moon and the sun, and a small panel showing
a priest in front of the altar.
6 - Céreste: the campanile embellishes the clock
tower on Saint Michel church (19th c).
7 - Apt: Bouquerie tower has a spherical campanile
from the second half of the 17th century.
8 - Saignon: a campanile from the first part of the
15th century. The clock tower on Saint Ann
Cathedral has a spherical campanile, whose
decorative elements were destroyed during the
French Revolution. The 1.15 m diameter clock bears
the following inscription on a single line: XRS
VINCIT XRS REGNAT XRS IMPERAT XRS AB
OMMALO NOS DEFENDAT.
9 - Roussillon: the new clock tower was built in 1859
on an old entrance. The campanile is dome shaped.
10 - Goult: a humble, charming campanile.
11 - Oppède le Vieux: the old decorative campanile
above the Town Hall is from the 18th century. It was
the work of Jérôme Valade who was paid 28 pound
per quintal of iron used. He was assigned the work
after a vote in June 1758.
12 - Ménerbes: on the Town Hall square, the
spherical campanile was erected after the clock tower
was raised in the mid 17th century.
13 - Lacoste: this campanile was built above the town
hall in 1620.
14 - Bonnieux: highly intricate campanile crowning
the town hall. The town archives refer to ten
quintals of iron to build this lovely campanile in the
17th century.
15 - This lovely little campanile with its weather
vane was built atop the clock tower on top of the
Town Hall in Vaugines, in the mid-19th century.
16 - Puyvert: The campanile on the clock tower dates
from the 19th century.
17 - Lauris: an onion-shaped campanile. Veritable
lace work in wrought iron, this campanile was
designed by the Apt artist Sollier and the Mousquet
brothers. There are no bells in the campanile, which
holds the timber of the town clock. The bells are
below.
18 - Cadenet: the clock tower holds an 1876
campanile on a square base, with an octagonal tower
and a hooked arrow. On the site of the old castle, a
small late 19th century belfry holds a very simple
campanile.