VENASQUE

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Venasque, amongst the most beautiful villages in France

Venasque is a village perched on a narrow and steep rocky spur, leaning against the Monts du Vaucluse, it offers a picturesque profile. The village overlooks the Nesque, the small river which, after digging spectacular Gorges a little further east, discreetly passes at the foot of the eminence. From the village above, the panorama is superb towards the Comtat Venaissin and Carpentras plain to the west and facing Mont Ventoux to the north. The village of Venasque has been classified among the most beautiful in France since 1992.

The old village of Venasque has an elongated layout: narrow on its rocky spur, it extends around the Grand Rue and the rue Haute. The access to the village from the south-east, the only easy way to the village, is defended by ramparts and three large rounded towers. These are the impassable Saracen Towers, they date from the Lower Roman Empire, their shape is of Gallo-Roman style.

On the other side of the village, Notre-Dame church, a 13th century Romanesque church, houses a magnificent painting from the Avignon school (1498), and a 6th century baptistery, one of the oldest in France, whose construction is attributed by legend to Saint-Siffrein, Bishop of Carpentras.

Venasque will delight lovers of old stones, you can admire the fountains and wash houses where for centuries the inhabitants used to get water. Running water was installed in the early 1960s.

The Cherry, "Red diamond of Provence"

At the foot of Venasque lie vineyards whose grapes produce an AOC Côtes du Ventoux, but Venasque is best known for being home to cherries, the "red diamond of Provence", a high-end fruit that benefits from a registered trademark "Cerise des Monts de Venasque" since 1978, subject to strict specifications to guarantee its quality and carefully controlled by the "Confrérie de la Cerise" which invites gourmands each year in June to the Festival de la Cerise. Cherry trees are abundantly cultivated both on the plains and on the hillside. They flower in spring and produce their fleshy and bright red fruits from mid-May to the end of June, depending on the variety.

History of Venasque

The territory of Venasque has provided evidence of human occupation since the Paleolithic, but especially the Neolithic period. The name "Vindasca" is of Ligurian origin. The rocky spur commands the direct road that connects Carpentras to Apt through the Vaucluse Mountains, it was an oppidum of the Gallic tribe of the Memini. The thick semi-circular "Saracen Towers" that still defend access to the village date back to the 4th century.

During the Early Middle Ages, the Bishops of Carpentras settled in Venasque, a site that was easily defensible. The engraved tombstone of Boetius, Bishop of Carpentras at the end of the 6th century, was found at Notre-Dame de Vic, at the foot of the rocky spur. Venasque may have given its name to the Comtat Venaissin. Besieged by Protestant troops during the Religious Wars in 1562 and 1564, the village was never taken. The village has preserved remarkable testimonies of its history.

Visit of Venasque in photos : slideshow

Accommodation and practical information

town website : www.venasque.fr

Things to see and do in Venasque :

• The Baptistery of the 6th century
• the Romanesque church of Notre-Dame
• The Saracen Towers
• Christmas crib in the Church of Notre-Dame
• The Plague Wall passes through the territory of the municipality
• The Priory of Saint-Pierre-les-Thermes
• Walking and cycling tours on the Vaucluse mountains.
• The road (D4) towards the Col de Murs passes at the foot of Venasque
• The weekly market on Fridays from 5pm to 8pm in summer time
• The Venasque Rally: an automobile rally organized by the Association Sportive de l'Automobile Club Vauclusien and the PACA league. It takes place in April. It includes the special stages of the ascent and descent of the Col de Murs by the D4: www.rallyedevenasque.com

Coming to Venasque

GPS coordinates N 43°59'45'' - E 5°08'48''

Location : altitude 200 meters, 1150 inhabitants, 10 km from Pernes-les-Fontaines, 11 km from Methamis, 12 km from Sénanque Abbey, 13 km from Carpentras, 15 km from Gordes, 15 km from Murs, 37 km from Avignon

Explore further with my articles in the Getaways section of the Guest Houses in Provence Portal: Venasque, a hilltop village in the Monts du Vaucluse.