Tourist Attractions & Monuments en Provence

The church was rebuilt in 1867 on the site of the former Augustinian monastery of the 12th century. In 1987, after  being abandoned for 25 years, the cultural centre moved there, thus profiting from the many rooms of this magnificent building and its extraordinary vaulted show room. All murals paintings of Charles Barbentan are still visible in the sumptuous room on the 1st floor.

Ten minutes from the Motorway exit n°18 Manosque, on the Valensole and the road of Gorges du Verdon, the Angelvin family welcomes you for four generations on its farm of the lavender. It is possible, for individuals, visit the distillery during harvest. As for groups, visits are organised throughout the year on appointment from fifteen people. You will receive a remarkable video projection commented in several languages making the evolution in the way of collecting lavender since 1970 to today. In the shop open all year that offers the possibility of mail order selling, you will discover essential oils, flowers, soaps and other local products are carefully selected. A warm and professional enthusiasts with meetings and exchanges with the producer. Enjoy the exceptional view that is offered on a sea lavender as far as the eye can see.

The Hotel Dieu de Carpentras, built in the middle of the XVIIIᵉ century, was one of the hospitals of the capital of the Comtat Venaissin, with its 10,000^{m2 of} surface area, it was the most imposing. It was commissioned by Joseph-Dominique d'Inguimbert, known as Dom Malachie, bishop of Carpentras. Its construction began in 1750, and it was served, according to the will of the bishop, by hospitable nuns from 1764. Beautifully renovated, the building houses since 2017 the Library-Museum L'Inguimbertine. Guided tours are proposed by the O.T. Registration is compulsory.

In the cobbled and vaulted cellars of this beautiful mansion of the 16th century, Hôtel de Brancas, you will discover an amazing collection of fifty bikes, from the velocipede of 1870 to the bike Paris-Beijing 2008, through the historical tandem of the first paid holidays in 1936. In the city that saw the birth of the famous Vélocio (Paul de Vivie, 1853-1930), brilliant inventor and figure of bicycle touring which significantly contributed to the improvement of cycles (detachable hubs, shifting of speed, equiangular frames, ...), Musée Comtadin du Cycle is of course a must-see!

Pernes has made a small "secular miracle" with its chapel of White Penance, as it has become a centrepiece of pernoise cultural activity. Located in 1152 on the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Diane, she was the first church in the village. Intimately interwoven in the heart of its medieval rampart, it almost disappeared several times during its nine centuries of history. The twentieth and his escapades were almost right from her, exhausting to ruin and the her into the forgotten memory after the opening of the Augustins cultural centre, in another historic church in the city. Priory, chapel, place of catechism, daycare, nursery school, variety room, festive room… It is finally in 2004 that the chapel opens its doors to the public and finds all its youth together with its walls, its soil, its alcoves, its original niches and its two mini chapels.

The square and crenellated tower (of Saracen inspiration) which surmounts this rocky islet was built between 1910 and 1913 (in red stone from Estérel), at the request of its owner, Doctor Auguste Lutaud, self-proclaimed Auguste^1st. Private property, it cannot be visited. According to a local legend, the Golden Island would have inspired Hergé for his album "The Black Island". But "Tintinophiles" are unanimous in refuting this idea: the illustrator, who never came to Saint-Raphaël, was inspired by Scottish castles for the castle of Ben More.

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