Bourg-saint-andéol

Bourg-Saint-Andéol is a tourist excellent city. The visitor informed there will find still nowadays many listed monuments illustrating a historical and architectural past major.

The religious dimension of this famous city is also not negligible. There still exists, in overhang of the quays of the Rhone, the old convent of the Visitandines, today head office of the Sisters of the Presentation of Marie, order founded during the revolutionary upheaval by the happy Marie Rivier. The building still shelters rare architectural elements, a furniture of time interesting and a large vault where meet faithful and religious, Sunday morning. The hospital of the city, located in the prolongation of the historical centre and formerly out-the-walls was also a convent managed by the order of Recollets. An elegant stone bell-tower of size dominates a cloister and buildings. The town hall, largely altered following the wave of fatal bombardments of 1944, with also be a convent, that of the Ursulines who dealt with the education of the young girls of Borough-Saint-Andéol.

The old centre town also has a series of private mansions of XVII, XVIII and XIX centuries. A part of them were largely destroyed during the war. One will note the hotel of the famous Nicolay family, of which there remains nothing any more but one fragment of turn; the hotel of Longevialle, admirably well restored and transformed into museum, Doize hotel, also converted into museum, the hotel of Digoine, which, placed near the large fountain shelters today a " B & B" of prestige.

In spite of these tragedies events which deeply marked the city and its town planning, Bourg-Saint-Andéol remains a commune having an exceptional inheritance.

Today, you meet a whole of monuments worthy of interest, the majority concentrated in the historical centre and its immediate surroundings:

• Fountains vauclusiennes of the small valley of Turns, known as the " Large Goul" and the " Small Goul".
• Roman low-relief of the god Mithra (III century), carved in the rock of the small valley of Turns.
• Vault Saint-Polycarpe (IX century).
• Romance church Saint-Andéol (XII, XVI and XVIII centuries), contains a sarcophagus paléochrétien having contained the remainders of Andéol Saint.
• Turn of the hotel Nicolaÿ (1450).
• Palate of the Bishops of Fish ponds (XVI century) and the Museum Rene Margotton
• Private mansions (XVIII century).
• Laundrette close to the sources to Turns.
• Old workings rich in curiosities (15 historic buildings).
• Several classified castles (origin XII century).
• Vault Notre-Dame-de-Chalon.
• Vault Notre-Dame-de-Cousignac(XIIe century).
• Saint-Féréol vault.

Founded in 1929 by a handle of the farmers rather directed towards the mixed-farming, the cooperative wine cave of Borough St Andéol saw, with the passing of years its production is to direct towards the wines name of the controlled origin " Coasts of Rhône". Since 2002, a new turning is taken in direction of the wines resulting from grapes of the organic farming. Today, this is more than 50% of the vineyard which direct towards this production.

 These divings occur in the Small valley from Tourne. This small valley is composed of two sources, the goul of the Tannery and the goul of the Bridge, which spout out of a calcareous rock. These two sources are fed by rainwater of the plate of the Gard which infiltrates in the rock. From the simple appearance, they very deeply hide a large labyrinth of gallery going down and which they do not know the end.