Tourist attractions Pernes-les-Fontaines

A the foot of a circus with impressive rocky walls, this apparently peaceful lake of green water is enshrouded in a halo of mystery: how deep is the abyss? No-one knows exactly although people have gone down as far as 315m. Where does the water come ..

An excellent example of Cistercian art, this monastery founded in 1148 has retained its ancient layout, with the exception of the lay wing (18C). The medieval parts are made from local stone and boast finely sculpted joints. The church does not face ..

Musée de l’Habitat Rural. The museum is comprised of twenty or so buildings, houses, sheepfolds and barns of various shapes and sizes, two to five centuries old and built with materials found on site (mainly flagstone) and all arranged about a baker’..

The building was commissioned by Pope Benoit XIII in 1404. A classic 17C door completes the façade. The flamboyant doorway known as the «Jewish door» was the door used by converted Jews after receiving the Sacrament. Inside, a balcony communicaties..

Dating from 1367, it was rebuilt in the 18C. The room for worship (upstairs) is very simple, yet richly decorated. On the ground floor and in the basement are the Mikva , which is a 14C ritual bath, and the bakeries, where unleavened bread was baked..

This Romanesque church with a single nave contains the tomb of St Veran who, legend has it, overcame the mighty Coulobre , the local monster (Tarasque).

The Dentelles de Montmirail, reaching up to 734m on Mont Saint-Amand, offer a diverse and well-preserved environment in the heart of the Comtat Venaissin that is a mecca for painters and a paradise for botanists, hikers, alpinists, and lovers of loca..

This Hôtel-Dieu was housed in a majestic 18C building founded by Bishop Malachie d'Inguimbert from Carpentras, who is buried in the hospital’s Baroque chapel . Don’t miss the Apothicairerie , which houses a fine collection of earthenware pots, an..

This avenue with its venerable plane trees is the ideal place to leave your car in the shade before exploring the old town.

Built in the 17C in Jesuit style, the chapel is used nowadays for showing contemporary art exhibitions.

The ground floor of this museum houses a collection of souvenirs providing an insight into popular traditions and regional skills: cowbells, headdresses, money, commemorative plaques. A collection of paintings (16C-20C) by Parrocel, Rigaud and local ..

Among the regional souvenirs is a collection of cowbells made in Carpentras, through which herds pass when they are moved to new pastures, as well as headdresses, money and buckets from Comtat. Upstairs is the Musée Duplessis .

This "hospital" built in 1669 to take in the needy is now a cultural centre presenting temporary exhibitions.

This 18C townhouse with its reconstructed furniture and decoration gives a good idea of the interior of a bourgeois house in Carpentras before the Revolution.

This triumphal arch has retained part of its ornamentation depicting two captives chained to a tree, one dressed in a tunic, the other in an animal hide.

The Palais de Justice is housed in the former bishop’s palace, which was built in the 18C for the Bishop d’Inguimbert.

This covered passage was built in 1848 by the unemployed put to work by the Ateliers Nationaux (National Workshops). Now restored to its former glory, it is also known as "rue vitrée" (glass-roofed street).

This road following on from rue Vigne reflects the position of the old city walls. It now houses many shops. Opposite the town hall stands the 15C Clock Tower , a vestige of the former town hall.

It contains a few columns and capitals from the Cathedral's Roman cloister.

The gate only vestige of the medieval fortifications runs parallel to the road. You can see it on arrival from Orange before crossing the verdant Alzon Valley.