Religious Sights in Provence

The remarkable architecture and sympathetic restoration work make this one of the best Carmelite abbeys in the Vaucluse region and one that is less frequently visited by tourists.

Beautiful baroque architecture, examples of 17th- and 18th-century frescoes and furniture and a large terraced garden.

The synagogue of Carpentras is the oldest synagogue still in activity in France.

The Petit Palais museum owes its name to the familiar name of the Archbishops Palace in which it is installed, name that it was given by reference to the great neighbouring palace: the Palais des Papes.

Aix's cathedral has its origins in the 5th century and it has been added to throughout the centuries.

This chapel was originally built after a local woodsman saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the clouds above the site in 1519. The first stone for the building was laid a month after the vision.

A great way to discover the religious heritage of the area and a great example of Romanesque architecture.

This 12th century Cistercian monastery is an iconic scene of Provence. With fields of rows of lavender in an isolated valley leading to a beautifully solumn sanctuary, the Abbey Notre Dame de Senanque provides a glimpse back in time - if you can ignore the crowds of tourists that invariably will share the moment with you.

The heart of the old town of Sospel opens out into a wide sunny square dominated by the colourful facade of the Saint-Michel cathedral.

Pope Benedict XIII ordered the reconstruction of this building after the original Romanesque church collapsed, in 1404.

St. Pancras chapel was restored by a local team of volunterrs. It overlooks the town of Digne les Bains and offers a panoramic view of the various surrounding peaks.

The cathedral of our lady of Nazareth, or Notre Dame de Nazareth, lies in the centre of Orange not far from the river.

At the centre of the town's activity, the Church of Saint-Michel opens on to a square crossed by one of the main roads.

With the arrival of French pope Clement V, Avignon was transformed into a religious and artistic centre. The grand Notre Dame cathedral has existed since the twelfth century, but the current building has been subjected to a number of alterations. The eye-catching gold statue of the Virgin Lady on the top of the tower is six metres in height and weighs 4,500 pounds.

The present building is from the 18th century, however there has been a structure here from as early as the 13th century.

This magnificent building was built for Pope Benedict III in 1335 as a residence and a 'grand project'. It's the largest Gothic palace in the world (at 15,000 square metres) and is in the top ten most visited monuments in France (over 650,000 visitors per year).

A Roman Catholic church that was once a catherdral and is now a national monument in France.

This church lies at the centre of what was the old Medieval village of Vaison la Romaine. It was built in the 11th century over the remains of early Christian buildings.