La Bastide des Jourdans

La Bastide des Jourdans is a pleasant village located in the foothills of the Luberon in the Aigues region, near the south-eastern end of the massif. The Èze river crosses the village, it rises in the surrounding hills before going down towards Grambois and flowing into the Durance river, about twenty kilometres further on.

This place is located on an old route on the border between Lower and Upper Provence, now the border between the Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, on the road leading from Aix to Forcalquier.

The presence of a priory of canons dependent on Notre-Dame-des-Doms in Avignon is attested in 1027. The Templars had settled in Limaye, northeast of the current village. They were replaced by the Hospitallers after their arrest in 1308. The Saint-Marc chapel, in Romanesque style, testifies to their presence at the Ferme de Limaye.

The Jourdan were two brothers, Pierre and Guillaume, vassals of the Count of Provence Raymond-Bérenger V who entrusted them with the territory in 1236 to establish a toll and tax the merchants who travelled on the road between Aix-en-Provence and Forcalquier. The Jourdans founded the current village by building a castle, then called "bastida" (or fortified house) that their descendants occupied until the 14th century. The round tower is the remains of the original castle. The seigneurial castle was enlarged by later owners in the 14th and 16th centuries, the Astouard and Coriolis families. Abandoned and ruined during the Revolution, the castle was bought and restored at the end of the 19th century by a private individual.

The Belfry which emerges above the rooftops of the village from the top of its 18 meters dates from the 17th century, it shelters at its top a clock and the bells of the church which were moved there. Because the church of Saint Peter is a discreet building, built below the village, and the sound of the bells did not reach the faithful easily.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Consolation is built outside the village at the crossroads of three roads.

La Bastide des Jourdans was a prosperous village in the Middle Ages but was not spared the plague epidemics and the upheavals of the 14th century. There are still two medieval gates of the second enclosure built in the 16th century and some parts of the ramparts. La Bastide des Jourdans became a prosperous village again in the 16th century. The village has now lost the silk industries that brought it prosperity in the 19th century, it was then an industrial village also known for its brick and tile factories. But the decline of traditional crafts and the rural exodus reduced the population from 920 inhabitants in the middle of the 19th century to only 400 souls after the First World War. Today it is an agricultural village whose population growth is supported by the development of residential areas.

La Bastide des Jourdans in photos : slideshow

Practical information and accommodation in La Bastide des Jourdans

Selection of Bed and breakfast on the portal of Provence's B&B.

Things to see and do in La Bastide des Jourdans :

• La Bastide des Jourdans internet website : bastidedesjourdans.com
• Private castle, not to be visited.
• Washhouses and Fountains
• Templar Commandery at the place known as La Cavalerie.
• Parish Church of St. Peter and Our Lady.
• Priory of Benedictines Saint-Marcel de Limaye.
• Priory of Benedictines Saint-Pierre-de-Pomerol.
• Chapel of Saint Marc.
• Chapel of Our Lady of Consolation.
• Sulphurous spring
• Christmas crib: This is one of the most beautiful Christmas cribs in the region, it is located in the church of Saint-Pierre
• Numerous hiking trails in the Luberon massif.
• Forestry Centre of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur region: centre-forestier.org

Coming to La Bastide des Jourdans

GPS coordinates N 43°47’09’’ - E 5°38’46’’

La Bastide des Jourdans Location : altitude 410 meters above sea level, 1500 inhabitants, 5 km from Grambois, 10 km from La Tour d'Aigues, 16 km from Manosque, 20km from Cucuron, 27 km from Lourmarin, 29 km fromForcalquier, 40 km from Aix-en-Provence.