Valréas

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Valréas

Nearby:  | Avignon 68 km | Barry Troglodyte Village 24 km | Bollene 24 km | 10 km | Mornas 35 km | Orange 37 km | Richerenches 7 km | 21 km | Sainte Cécile-les-Vignes 19 km | Suze-la-Rousse 17 km | Vaison-la-Romaine 26 km | 9 km |

Below: | Town of Walls | Historic Sites | Museums | History | O.T. | Dates | Hiking | Dining | Lodging Hotels |

Valréas is a great town for visiting, with a large number of picturesque medieval-narrow streets for wandering and many wonderful sites and things to discover. Magnificent church, medieval towers, buildings and walls, of course, but also low-arched vaulted passages, stone step-streets, and some lovely old doorways of carved stone.

Valréas is located on a low hill overlooking the valley of the Coronne, but it's not high enough to afford a view of the surrounding countryside.

Town of Walls

The town center, with the Chateau Ripert (now just the Tour Ripert) and the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs was inside the original walled enclosure. Only about 90 meters in diameter, this first wall was earth with a wooden palisade.

In the 12th century, a new, much-larger, protective wall was built. About 200 m diameter, this walled enclosure included the chateau and the church, and is marked today by the Grande Rue, and Rue Louis Pasteur and the Place Aristide Briand. There were five fortified doorways through the circling walls, the remains of some shown in our Beyond photos.

Over the following centuries a town built up outside the walls, and in the 14th century, on the orders of Pope Innocent VI, a new protective wall was started. This outer wall is marked today by the ring of walled houses circled by the ring road around Valréas. The new wall was 1400 m long, and pierced by six ports and 13 towers. The walled town at this time included Valréas' Chateau Ripert, Chateau Dauphin and Chateau Saint-Jean). It wasn't a fast construction job, taking until 1620 to complete the walls and towers.

After two and a half centuries of progressive construction, the walls were relevant for less than one century. In 1835, most of the walls and towers were torn down and sold off piece by piece, with only the Tour Tivoli remaining of the guard towers. And, in spite of the fine construction, the walls didn't prevent the town from being pillaged a few times, and ravaged by the Wars of Religion.

Historic Sites

The 12th-century église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth is quite spectacular. Beyond especially liked the complex roofs and facades. Inside is an organ from 1506.

The Chateau de Simiane, built in 1446, now serves as Valréas' town hall (l'hôtel de ville), exhibition center, and houses a fabulous collection of rare books. Beyond's photo of the Chateau de Simiane shows it with Cesar's "puce" on display.

The Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, built in 1585, has a richly decorated interior, including some trompe l'oeil paintings.

The 14th-century Couvent des Cordeliers is dominated by a tall, square tower with a large sundial (cadran solaire) on each side, facing the cardinal directions. Nice idea, but it's hard to see how the north-side sundial could ever be useful. The Couvent is just inside the northern edge of the the old town, out the Rue du Berteuil.

Nothing left today of the Chateau des Ripert except the 11th-century Tour de l'Horloge. From the terrace of the tour you'll have a nice view of the village rooftops.

Museums & Sites

Musée du Cartonnage

Book Printing and Cardboard Making. Valréas was a center of printing from the early days, and is still a center of the cardboard industry. You can see a history of the processes at the Musée du Cartonnage, southwest of the outer ring road, just a few steps along Ave du Maréchal Foch.

History

Name
First record, 1110 Valleriaz

Medieval: Valréas was ruled jointly by the Lords of Mévouillon and Ripert in the 12th century. In the 13th it was the fief of the Barons of Montauban-Mévouillon. The town was sold to the Pope in 1317 (the time of Jean XXII) and became an important town for the Popes of Avignon,.

During the Wars of Religion, the Baron des Adrets attacked the town for two years, repulsed successfully by the Catholic troops of the Count of Suze.

More Recently: Hard times continued, with massacres in 1815 at the Cour des Prisons, and in June 1944 when 53 inhabitants were lined up and shot by the current invaders.

Valréas was integrated into the department of the Drôme in 1791. Two years later the department of Vaucluse was created, and Valréas was attached to that, as part of the "Enclave des Papes".

The Enclave des Papes, a "bubble" of the Vaucluse located completely within the department of the Drôme [map], dates back to the 14th century. The Popes of Avignon purchased a collection of fiefs in order to consolidate power in the area. The King of France wanted to limit their power, and so refused to cede the intervening bit of land southeast of Visan [map], and the separation remains to this day.

Office de Tourisme

Tel: 04 90 35 04 71; Fax: 04 90 35 04 71
Email: servicecommunication@valreas.net

Dates

Every Wed - Marché
Every June, about the 3rd week - Foire annuelle de la Saint Jean. Nuit de Petit Saint-Jean; night-time sound-and-light festival, with 400 costumed participants; about 21h45
Beginning August - Corso de Lavandes
December - Provençale creche at the Notre-Dame de Nazareth

Hiking

Maps:

IGN (1/25,000) #3039 E "Valréas, Grignan"

Dining

We had dinner in the restaurant Au Délice du Provence. A nice ambience and warm welcome was the least of the experience: the food is excellent and each dish is presented as a work of art.

Au Délice du Provence

6 La Placette

Tel: 0490 281 691; Fax 0490 374 249

Closed: Tue, Wed

Menus: from 17 euros

Lodging - Hotels

There are a few local hotels in Valréas. They're often full on weekends in the Autumn, with people coming to visit the area wineries.

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