Ménerbes, from fortified gates to artists’ homes

A village along a ridge

The outline of Ménerbes emerges as you look up from the plain. At the foot of the Petit Luberon, the houses line a narrow ridge overlooking the Calavon valley. Woodland covers the steep slopes below.

At the foot of the village, growers tend vines and a few fields of lavender, which flowers in June.

Saint-Sauveur Gate and the capture of Ménerbes

A cobbled lane climbs between stone walls to Saint-Sauveur Gate. Its arch leads out near the church, on the edge of the spur. Saint-Sauveur and Notre-Dame were the two main entrances to Ménerbes. Notre-Dame Gate was demolished in the nineteenth century. Two keys on the village coat of arms recall the old entrances.

In 1573, Protestants entered through Saint-Sauveur Gate and took Ménerbes. They held the village until 1578 despite a siege by Catholic troops of the pope and the king of France. A shortage of drinking water eventually hastened their surrender.

Saint-Luc and the meeting place of the consuls

Above Saint-Sauveur Gate, the square bell tower of Saint-Luc rises over the cypresses and the walls of the old cemetery. The present church, built of pale stone, replaced an earlier building in the sixteenth century.

On this forecourt, at the foot of the wrought-iron cross, the consuls and aldermen used to meet to deal with village affairs.

A clock for the changing of the guard

Beside the clock tower, you can walk through the arch of the former town hall. Beyond the parapet are the fields of the Calavon valley and the Monts de Vaucluse.

The clock kept time for the changing of the guard, as a 1616 ordinance in the municipal archives records. The tower encroached on the public square. Village representatives had to obtain formal approval for its construction from the vice-legate in Avignon.

The citadel and its garrison

Further along, the citadel wall meets a round tower. Built after the Protestant occupation, the citadel housed an Italian garrison charged with defending Ménerbes. In 1594, the pope appointed its first governor.

The garrison had a bread oven and provisions in case of attack. Villagers supplied wood, flour and oats for the horses. The community also paid the soldiers and the governor.

The tower pictured beside the rampart path once served as a prison. An outside staircase led to the living quarters upstairs, above the cell.

Artists and their homes

In 1953, Nicolas de Staël bought the Castellet at one end of the spur. His friend, the poet René Char, had drawn him to the region.

On Rue du Portail Neuf, Dora Maar spent her summers in a house that, according to the tourist office, she had bought by selling a painting Picasso had given her. The Surrealist photographer drew and painted the surrounding landscapes there. Her house now hosts artists and writers in residence.

On Rue Cornille, the Hôtel de Tingry now hosts exhibitions organised by the Dora Maar Cultural Centre.

La Mob, the cultural centre’s gallery, shows works by artists who have taken up residencies or worked in the region.

Views from Ménerbes over the Calavon and the Petit Luberon

A few streets take you from one side of the ridge to the other. The Calavon plain stretches away to the north. Across it, Gordes faces Ménerbes from the Monts de Vaucluse.

On the other side of the ridge, paths follow gardens and stone walls facing the wooded slopes of the Luberon.

Dora Maar found subjects for her drawings and paintings in the landscapes around Ménerbes.

Other villages to explore in the Luberon

To the west, the lanes of Vieil-Oppède lead to the church and castle ruins. To the east, Bonnieux climbs the slopes of the Petit Luberon. From its upper streets, you can see Lacoste and the Calavon plain.

Bed and breakfasts around Ménerbes make a base near these villages and the farmland on the northern side of the Luberon.