Welcome to à gordes

This village can boast about being amongst one of the most beautiful villages in France. It has narrow cobbled streets which thread their way through tall houses; built against the rock, clinging onto its flanks and whispering the tales of a thousand legends.
Gordes is also proud of its castle firmly planted in its very core and which reminds the passer-by of a past rich with conquests but also marked with the sufferings of its inhabitants. Today, the castle acts as both a Town Hall and a Museum sheltering  the works of art of the painter Pol Mara.

Gordes also extends its territory to include the Bories village, those curious igloo-shaped structures made of stones - no mortar; the Sénanque Abbey set in its green valley, the Bouillons oil press  and the cellars of St Firmin's s Palace.
As for the soul, Gordes has sheltered many a famous artist such as André Lhote, Marc Chagall, Jean Deyrolle, Victor Vasarely and Pol Mara, who amongst others have found here some inspiration.

Such a cultural tradition is kept alive to this day, during the summer time when many exhibits do take place in buildings marked by History, such as the St James almonry, the White Penitents chapel etc.

Gordes Municipality looks after its heritage with a rigorous love so that success does not spoil it.

Yes, indeed, Gordes is a highly recommended tourist destination, and thus because of its History, its exceptional geographical location, its high quality cultural activities as well as for its renowned hotels and restaurants.

Gordes must remain authenticable, maintain its Provençal traditions, and yet be open to a tourism, which knows to appreciate and

To see: Castel of Gordes.

The castle and the church, which dominate the village, impress their stature upon the visitor, as if to protect Gordes'inhabitants and extend upon them their respective influences, as was the case in the past.

The castle, rebuilt in 1525 already, existed in 1031.  Well preserved, and carefully restored, it brings together the architecture of the troubled medieval period with the new ways of  the Renaissance.

This imposing monument is strongly guarded with its round machicolated towers bearing terraces for the artillery.  Three storeys of "Renaissance windows" have been pierced in the tall curtain walls and today, one can still notice many a cleverly located arrow  slit on all the surfaces of the construction (towers, walls and bartizan).  The South façade opens up towards the sun, facing the old town.  Behind the fountains, a vaulted passageway pierced into the wall opens onto a courtyard leading to a monumental spiral staircase, which connects the entire building.

Since the summer of 1996, it has been possible to visit withing Gordes Castle, the Pol Mara Museum.  Pol Mara was contemporary Flemish painter and a citizen of the city of Gordes.

In order to properly visit the museum, one must climb the splendid spiral Renaissance staircase, and begin with the exhibition rooms located on the top floor to follows the chronological order of the artist's life. 

The visit will end on the first floor in the Town Hall magnificient reception room where the artist's last dreams and phantasms are displayed next to the more austere XVIth century monuymental fireplace.

Pol Mara's masterpieces are shown on three storeys and are like a variation on the theme of the changing times.

On the slopes of the Vaucluse mountains, facing the Luberon mountains, the Bories village with its sheep-pens, stone bread ovens, wine vats, threshing areas, narrow alleys and "city walls" bears witness to the numerous generations of hard working people that have inhabited this place.  Since the Bories (a "borie" is a stone hut characteristic of the Apt area), can be traced back to the Bronze Age, it is about 3000 years of continuity that one contemplates, the newest huts having been built in the XVIIIth century.  The French Government has classified the Bories Village a Historical Monument in 1977.  It is the most important group of houses of  its kind in the region.

The Village, neglected for over a century had suffered the assaults of time and was disappearing under the overgrowth.  It had also been used as a resource for cheap building materials.  Thus, it was high time to restore and preserve it.  The Village, which is a rare and fine example of spontaneous architecture, is well integrated to its surroundings.  This is due to the use of natural raw materials, and a design using a minimum of shapes and means.  It is now under protection, yet open to visitors. Organised as a museum it shows a rural habitat  and exhibits a collection of objects and tools traditionally used in the area.  There is also a whole documentation on Gordes' History, the Bories and the tradition of building without mortar in France and in the world.

To discover the Bories Village is a unique experience.  One cannot but be touched by the harmony of the horizontal and vertical lines; the balance between minerals and  vegetation, the play between shadows and light, particularly at the rising or setting sun; time best suited for a visit.

Founded in 1148, the Sénanque Abbey is  an exceptional witness of primitive Cistercian architecture.

A community of Cistercian monks still lives there.  The entire XIIth century building is opened to visitors; this includes the abbatial church, the cloister, the dormitory, the chapter room and the calefactory.

It is the oldest olive oil press being kept in perfect condition to this day, with all its elements including a press, with its axis made of an oak tree trunk 30 feet long and weighing 7 tons.  It is located in a XVIth century bastide, with vaulted rooms. 

The antique oil press dates back to the Gallo-roman era.

This museum, 600m ² d' exposure in a park of 3 hectares where you will be able to also see the monumental sculptures of Frederique DURAN, reports the history of glass and the stained glass since the most moved back times jusqu' at our days.

7000ans of History of the  Humanity, of the glass Shot to the pane, the stained glass to the photovoltaic cells. Since the technique of the glaze until the stained glasses of our cathedrals and glass used for science, glass is present everywhere in our life.

An exceptional collection d' objects testifies to the glass epopee.