Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Nearby:  | Aiguines 15 km | Aix-en-Provence 87 km | Bargeme 56 km | Bauduen 33 km | Castellane 45 km | Manosque 50 km | Plus Beaux Villages | Quinson 35 km | Riez 15 km | 5 km | Tourtour 43 km | Valensole 29 km | 10 km |

Below: | Faience | Museums | History | O.T. | Dates | Transportation | Sports | Hiking | Readers' Comments | Lodging Hotels |

Moustiers-Ste-Marie is a lovely village, in a gorgeous setting. It's there for tourists, though, so don't expect a "natural" Provencal village. A small "train" provides guided tours of the village and surrounding points of interest.

The main theme of Moustiers is to sell the, admittedly beautiful, "faïence" ceramics (see also Faience Pottery), and the village is packed full of Faïenceries shops. There are very few normal shops, but there are some terrace cafés for relaxing and a fair number of restaurants. Our first fairly critical view of Moustiers has improved with repeated visits, and a Reader's Comment (below) adds another positive touch.

The village sits astride a rushing mountain stream that divides the two halves with a narrow rocky canyon. The view of this mini-gorge, with small waterfalls down inside and medieval houses above, is beautiful. The sound of the river, and the running fountains all over the village, give Moustiers the feeling of an Alpine village. The village has narrow medieval streets and vaulted passages, and becomes more "natural" when you get up above the ceramics shops.

The center piece of the village is the 12th-century Notre-Dame church, beautifully restored in 1928. It's topped by a four-level Lombard Romanesque (Italianate) bell tower, carved from golden-brown tuff.

The "crown" of the village is the star, suspended high across the Rioul valley by a forged-iron chain. The golden star hangs above the Notre-Dame de Beauvoir chapel, with the chain fastened into solid rock on each side of the gorge. The chain and star project was done as a promise by Sir Blacas, a knight who returned from a long captivity during the crusades.

The Notre-Dame de Beauvoir chapel, sitting high in the notch above the village, dates back to the time of Charlemagne in 8th century, and was restored in the 12th and 16th centuries. The chapel is actually built on the site of an even older one from the 5th century. The steep walk up to the chapel follows a wide paved path, passing through defensive doorways similar to the citadel path at Entrevaux. The path, lined with 12 stations of the cross, has been used for pilgrimages to the chapel since the year 470.

Views. A walk up to the Notre-Dame de Beauvoir chapel will give you a fantastic view, from the red-tiled roofs of the village to the expanse of the Maire valley, the far hills and the Lac de Ste Croix. A walk up the hill south of the village to the cemetery gives another excellent view, of the village, the Notre-Dame de Beauvoir chapel, the surrounding hills and the Lac de Ste Croix.

Faïence

Most of the shops make their own faïence pottery, in ateliers that are outside of the village, and most advertise "unique" items. The shops are well organized and professionally run, and the value (and prices) of the faïence is well established. We have examples of the Moustiers faïence on a separate Faïence Pottery page.

Museums & Sites

Musée de la Faïence

Location: on the west side of the village, beside the Mairie

Open, Winter: Sat-Sun, 11h-12h, 14h-17h

Open, Summer: daily and weekends.

History

An abbey was founded here in the year 434 by Saint Maxime, the bishop of Riez, who came here from the Abbey de Lérins with a few monks. In the beginning they occupied a few caves in the rocky gap. Around the 10th century, they fortified a permanent village (castrum) at the site of the current village.

Medieval: The town was ruled by the Lords of the Moustiers family until the 12th century. It became an independent "consulat" until the 13th century, when it was united with the Count of Provence. At the end of the 14th century, Moustiers was destroyed and the occupants massacred during the succession of Reine Jeanne. During the Wars of Religion, Moustiers sided with King Henry IV and avoided the depredations so common during those times.

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie was flooded in 1685 and again in 1702. The town had a thriving paper industry and the famous faïence industry that made the town wealthy during the 17th and 18th centuries (and is having a comeback now).

Office de Tourisme

Tel: 04 92 74 67 84; Fax: 04 92 74 60 65
Email: moustiers@wanadoo.fr;   Web: www.ville-moustiers-sainte-marie.fr/

Dates

Every Fri - Marché - Market

Transportation

Transportation - Bus
Bus service is provided once a week to Marseilles and to Castellane (Saturday). Castellane has daily service with Grasse and Nice.

Transportation - Car

• Driving from Nice is 150 km, 2h30, via Grasse, up the Route Napoleon (N85) to Castellane and along the Gorges de Verdon.
• Travelling from Moustiers-Sainte-Marie to Bonnieux is a 2-hour, 104 km drive, via Riez (15 km), Valensole (30 km), Manosque (50 km), Cereste (70 km) and Apt (90 km).
• Driving to Lourmarin (94 km, 1h50), the route goes southwest via Riez, Allemagne-en-Provence, Saint Martin-de-Brômes, Gréoux-les-Bains (40 km), Vinon-sur-Verdon, and joins the A51 autoroute (52 km). Then it's west to exit 15, north to Pertuis and west to Lourmarin.
• Moustiers to Castellane is one hour, but allow extra time for sightseeing along the way. Castellane to Grasse is an hour, but traffic can be slower in the middle of the summer.

Sports

Camping

Hiking

Maps:

IGN (1/25,000) #3442 OT "Gorges su Verdon, Moustiers-Ste-Marie"

Didier Richard (1/50,000) #19 "Haute Provence Verdon"

The hills around Moustiers-Sainte-Marie are steep, but mostly forested, and the hiking is excellent.
The GR4 (Grande Randonnée) passes 1 km south of the village. To the west, the GR4 climbs the wooded hillside (from 537 m to 819 m) and crosses the high plains, with lavender fields, to Riez and points west. To the east, the GR4 goes through the hills above the Grand Canyon du Verdon to La Palaud-sur-Verdon, then down into the bottom of the canyon to the far end, climbing out past Rougon and on to Castellane.
There's a maze of hiking trails in the mountains north of the village. Go to the end of the highest road in the village, up to the north (left of the high chapel) by the waterfall. The trail going up to the west circles around to the north into the mountains. You can continue on forever, or circle around to the right and loop back to the village from the east.
At the cemetery, south of the village, the hiking trail past the Ste-Anne chapel follows a Roman road to the east, climbing to a peak of 939 m. Here, too, you can loop around to the left and back to the village, find other loop hikes in the nearby mountains, continue on northeast (the astronomique observatory Le Chiran is at 1905 m) or continue on to the southeast to the Gorges du Verdon.

Reader's Comments

Comments contributed by Lynn, Ceret; April 2007

Hallo Beyond France -
My husband and I (British) live in southern France near Perpignan.
We recently had a great trip touring part of Provence - ending with a night at La Bastide de Moustiers.
I found your site interesting and informative before our trip but I would just like to correct one thing. We counted 11 places to have a meal or snack in Moustiers. Yes, of course there are a lot of pottery shops but there are also at least three places with outside terraces for a pause-cafe.
The village probably does seem a lot more 'natural' out of season.
Highly recommended.

Lodging - Hotels