Oppède-le-Vieux: climbing to the church and castle

From the hilltop village to Les Poulivets

Oppède-le-Vieux rises on a promontory on the northern side of the Petit Luberon, above the Calavon plain. The medieval village developed from the 12th to the 16th century around its walls, castle and church, forming a fortified site between Cavaillon and Apt. The houses now in ruins once formed a dense settlement organised around the castle, the collegiate church and an agricultural life shaped by the plain.

From the modern era onwards, and especially during the 19th century, inhabitants gradually moved down to the plain. Farmland, water and roads were more accessible there. Oppède-les-Poulivets became the new centre of the commune, while part of the hilltop village emptied and fell into ruin.

From the Place de la Croix to Notre-Dame-d'Alidon, the cobbled lanes climb through this history. The passages narrow between stone façades, porches and walls covered with ivy. Some houses are still inhabited; others, roofless, open onto gardens laid out in the former plots.

Towards the collegiate church and castle on the promontory

As the climb continues, the houses give way to rock and vegetation. Notre-Dame-d'Alidon appears above the walls, close to the castle ruins.

Of Romanesque origin, the church was extensively altered in the 16th and 17th centuries. A college of canons was established here in 1546, giving it the status of a collegiate church. Its sober, massive exterior contrasts with an interior where Renaissance and Baroque elements stand alongside later additions. Listed as a historic monument since 1929, it continues to undergo restoration.

Higher up, the castle ruins occupy the highest part of the promontory. The walls and towers recall Oppède's defensive role, as a fortified site between Cavaillon and Apt. Damaged by the 1731 earthquake and later used as a stone quarry, the castle remains closed to the public during safeguarding work.

Jean Maynier d'Oppède and the repression of the Waldensians

The village's history is also linked to Jean Maynier, Baron of Oppède and first president of the Parliament of Aix. In 1545, he was charged with enforcing the Parliament of Aix's decree against Waldensians established in several Luberon villages. The campaign led to massacres and the destruction of communities, notably at Mérindol and Cabrières-d'Avignon.

The ruined walls of the former fortified site still overlook the plain. As remnants of seigneurial power, they also tell of the political and religious conflicts of the 16th century.

An abandoned village, a refuge for artists in the 20th century

The depopulation of Oppède-le-Vieux left many houses empty at the beginning of the 20th century. During the Second World War, a group of artists, architects and intellectuals settled here, including the architect Bernard Zehrfuss and Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, who later described this period in her book Oppède.

The abandoned houses became places to live and work. The artists' presence helped to rediscover Oppède-le-Vieux and accompanied its gradual revival.

The lower houses are inhabited again, while the highest areas retain the alternation of ruined walls, gardens and rocky passages.

Panoramic views over the Calavon Valley

Near the collegiate church, the view opens over the vineyards, olive groves and orchards of the Calavon plain. The contrast with the steep lanes helps explain the village's move down to Les Poulivets: the cultivated land, water and roads lie below and still structure the commune today.

Oppède-le-Vieux belongs to the western Luberon, near Ménerbes, Robion and Les Taillades. From the promontory, the view crosses the Calavon plain towards Gordes and the Monts de Vaucluse. Further east, Lacoste, Bonnieux and the Calavon valley, and the Pont Julien extend the discovery of the Luberon.

The climb towards Oppède's church and castle leads from the cultivated plain to the top of the village. Its walls and ruins reveal a fragment of Luberon history.