Discover the glories of the fine lavender (from cultivation to harvest, and from distillation to essential oil ). Take a close-up look at the many cooper stills. Audioguide tours (10 foreign languages ). Château du Bois shop, with cosmetic products made with estate’s own lavender.

www.museedelalavande.com

A distillation demonstration in the museum’s garden recreates the festive atmosphere of yesturday, when the stills were taken from village to village, from 1 July to 25 August at 10am, noon, 2pm and 6pm, except Saturday.

The original building (math century) was modified and enlarged from the 12th to the 16th century. Its architecture combines medieval defensive art and Renaissance styles. Between 1971 and 1996, it housed the Museum of Victor Vasarely, then the works of Pol Mara from 1997 to 2011. Temporary exhibitions in season. Accessible during guide tours ans exhibitions.

Classé Monument historique en 1931, sa construction s’échelonna entre le 11e et le 16e siècle. Il fut la propriété de la famille d’Ajout Simienne qui régna sur Gordes pendant près de 700 ans. Ils transformèrent l’édifice médiéval en un imposant chateau Renaissance (1525). Son architecture […]

Airports and TGV Stations Shuttles / Transferts Aéroports & Gares TGV
Marseille / Aix en Provence / Avignon / Nice / Nimes
Private or business tourism Luberon and Provence tours / Tourisme privé ou professionnel Visites du Luberon, et de la Provence
Evénementiel Soirée privée, festivals, mariages / Events Private party, festivals, weddings
With Louis the driver Tel: + 33 (0) 677 190 803
Français, Anglais et Portugais courant / Fluent French, English and Portuguese

Historic monument
Troglodytic rooms, cisterns, subterranean stairways, oil presses, etc. all carved and/or built from century to century within the basement of a large house so-called “Palais St Firmin”. An underground city on seven levels carved out of the rock in the Middle Ages to lodge the many pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.

Unaccompanied tour with information leaflet

Entrance : between Gordes church and the belvedere
Price :4 Euros
Familial billet : 12 Euros
Groupe adulte: 3 euros each person

The Cellars of the Saint-Firmin Palace – Rue du Belvédère 84220 Gordes- Tel: 33 (0)4 90 72 02

Originally Romanesque, it was consecrated to Notre Dame.

Rebuilt in the XVIIIth century, it was then dedicated for 2 centuries to its patron, St Firmin (bishop of the city of Uzès). The St Eloi chapel is consecrated to the blacksmiths and locksmiths, and that of St Crespin to the cobblers. On the so-called “rue des Clastres”, on may notice a shell, carved in a wall, which bears witness to the pilgrims walking towards St Jacques in Spain.

Founded in 1148, the Sénanque Abbey is an exceptional witness of primitive Cistercian architecture.

A community of Cistercian monks still lives there. The entire XIIth century building is opened to visitors; this includes the abbatial church, the cloister, the dormitory, the chapter room and the calefactory.

Ph : (33) 4.90.72.0572
Fax : (33) 4.90.72.15.70
http://www.senanque.fr

THE CASTLE
The castle and the church, which dominate the village, impress their stature upon the visitor, as if to protect Gordes’inhabitants and extend upon them their respective influences, as was the case in the past.

The castle, rebuilt in 1525 already, existed in 1031. Well preserved, and carefully restored, it brings together the architecture of the troubled medieval period with the new ways of the Renaissance.

This imposing monument is strongly guarded with its round machicolated towers bearing terraces for the artillery. Three storeys of “Renaissance windows” have been pierced in the tall curtain walls and today, one can still notice many […]

Historic monument in Provence – Luberon
Nestled on a low mountain in the Vaucluse, a cable’s length from the village of Gordes, the Bories village, classed as a historic monument, gives a priceless account of the way of life in Provence, from far-off times to the present day.

An architectural masterpiece
In a twist in one of the paths that leads through the scrub, scantly shaded by the holm oaks, the visitor comes across a group of thirty dry stone huts, now revived and restored following ten years of work. These characteristic constructions in their pure and simple shapes represent an architectural masterpiece. […]

All the major rental companies have offices in Avignon, both in the town and at the TGV station

If you are thinking of cycling, you should know that it is 39 km from Avignon to Gordes, and that Gordes is at the top of a long steep hill.top

Avis Location Voiture Avignon – Gare TGV
Gare Tgv Mediterranee · 0 820 61 16 48

Sixt
Place de l’Europe · 04 90 39 49 68

Budget Location de Voitures Avignon
Avignon Gare, Route du Confluent · 0 821 23 39 88

Hubert has a choice of 220 Bikes : Hybrids, Mountain bikes, Tandems, Children’s Bikes and top of the line Road bikes : LAPIERRE TREK SPECIALIZED and VAN NICHOLAS. For gentle riding on small country roads, going up Mont Ventoux, crossing the Luberon or even discovering ‘Les Ocres’. All our bicycles are regularly checked out and serviced by our professional mechanic. They can deliver your bike directly to your place of residence or at the start of your ride (Avignon, Cavaillon or Isle sur la sorgue train station for example) everyday during summer time….. Wherever you are, we can deliver at […]

During the “Pax Romana” the region became more secure and the inhabtants were encouraged to settle on the plains. The arrival of Barbarians, Visigoth and Lombardian troop in the 5th Century forced populations to flee and seek refuge back on the higher ground. In the middle age (10th Century), these eagles’nests began to take on the shape of villages. These strategic places on the rocks (Saignon, Gordes) and hills (Menerbes, Lacoste) were initially occupied by “oppidum” or sometimes, Roman forts. The houses were grouped around the “cast rum”, which was there to protect the population. This was the beginning of […]

Gordes…down through the centuries…

The history of Gordes began on the rock on which the village was first built and was linked to that of the castle and its lords for several centuries. The castle was first mentioned in 1031.

In the 14th century, it became an important military construction intended to protect the village against repeated attacks by brigands who terrorized the region. The remparts were built at the same time but fell into ruin from the 18th Century, leaving a few remains today.

During the renaissance , on the initiative of Bertrand Rambaud de Simiane, the medieval castle was enlarged and […]