Saint Vincent Church, Les Baux
A 12th century church partly built into the rocks behind it
This is one of three churches in the old village of Les Baux and has been built partly into the rock face behind it.
The nave, which has ribbed barrel vaulting, was extended eastwards in 1609 without breaking the Romanesque harmony of the building as a whole.
There is also the funeral chapel of the Manville family with Flamboyant Gothic vaulting and, in the chapel dug into the rock, the ceremonial cart used for the "pastrage" ceremony during Midnight Mass when the cart carries the newborn lamb offered to the Baby Jesus by the shepherds.
Outside, the West Front underwent extensive alteration during the 19th-century restoration work which, in particular, changed the flight of steps that used to run along the wall (there are traces of its removal).
Above the doorway and a rounded window, there is a superb sculpture of a lion. On the South side, the Lantern of the Deceased is an elegant circular turret topped by a cupola decorated with gargoyles. Tradition has it that a fire was lit in the turret whenever somebody from Les Baux passed away.
