A 200 mètres

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About 4 kilometers away from that point Tourist

Office

PostOffice

Town Hall

Pernes les FontainesTour of the fountains of

Tour n°1: 1h Tour n°2: 2h30

de Villeneuve Font dou lavadou de la porte aiguière saint Pierre de l’Hôpital du Portail Neuf des Augustins (ou des Dauphins) des Pénitents Noirs de la Rue de la République du Gigot

de la Rue des Prieurs Dou Caire de Roubino du Quai de Verdun de la Rue Victor Hugo de la Place de Brancas de la Rue de Brancas de la place de la Mairie du petit jardin du jardin de la mairie (ou de l’Ange)

Lavoir Saint Gilles de la Lune de la Rue Raspail du Planet de Guidan Reboul de la rue des Istres du Cormoran Lavoir du Cormoran de la Place Fléchier du Cours de la République de la Rue des Tourelles Du jardin Dominique Corti du Cours Frizet du Monument Giraud Lavoir des Coudoulets de l’Avenue Paul de Vivie du Clos de Verdun de la Place des Comtes de Toulouse de la Prato du Couchadou du Bourg Merdeux

The city’s art locationsArt galleries, exhibitions and craftsman galleries

a La Galerie de l’R du Cormoran (Comtemporary art)

b Watch-making workshop

c L’Atelier 43 (Painter’s worshop)

d La Galerie Trace (Modern art)

e La Chapelle des pénitents (temporary art exhibitions)

f La Maison des artistes (the painters’ house, a place where an exhibition and a demonstration of paintings are open to the public)

g L’Atelier Courtepointe (traditional «boutis» making and exhibition of traditional «boutis»)

h Jeweller/ Jewellery sale

i Galerie des Abattoirst

j Terre de contraste (ceramists)

The fountains:

P Car park Restaurant/snack bar Public conveniences Cash dispenser

conception et réalisation

A little history of the fountains...Like in many villages of Provence, the fountains are integral part of the life of Pernes and this is the reason why the town became Pernes-Les-Fontaines in 1936. It’s the discovery of the St Roch spring that allowed the locals to bring the water in every neighbourhood of the town, keeping them away from drought issues. To celebrate this event, four monumental fountains were built: La Fontaine du Cormoran, la Fontaine du Gigot, la Fontaine Reboul and la Fontaine de l’Hôpital.As a consequence, there are no less than forty public fountains today and about sixty private ones hidden from visitors in the numerous courtyards and patios of private mansions and in other pretty private properties.Go and discover them… keep your eyes peeled and your ears alert, the sound of water will be your guide!

Its monuments: A La Maison du Costume Comtadin (19th century): This store, closed

in the fifties has kept its furniture, its shelves and its old shop window. Today, it houses the comtadin costume museum. The shelves in the store are full of quilted blankets, remnants of old fabrics, sewing equipment, embroidery, shirts, headgears and hats. An exhibition room located on the first floor of the museum houses a remarkable collection of authentic Comtadin costumes and several accessories from that time period.

B Hôtel de Vichet (16th century): Communion wafers have been made since 1868 in this 16th century larged doored private home.

C Hôtel de Villefranche (16th century): The Marquis de Villefranche lived in this private home until the 19th century. In the early 20th century, It became a girl’s state school for more than a century. Today, important renovation work has given this home its former architectural splendour back from the De Villefranche’s era.

D Hôtel de Crillon (16th century): This private home was the family resi-dence of Brave Crillon, Henri the IVth’s comrade in arms. Crillon was considered to be the greatest captain in the world by the king. It is thought he stayed in this residence while visiting his family. His brother was the governor of Pernes for a period of time. The Hôtel de Crillon is now a retirement home.

E Eglise des Augustins (19th century): In the 12th century, we know that there used to be a monastery where this church was built. After being disused for a while, this church was turned into a cultural centre in 1987. The wall paintings of the painter Charles Barbentan can be seen in the amazing room located on the first floor.

F Tour Ferrande (12th century): This tower houses extremely rare medieval frescoes (from the 13th century) telling about battles lead by Saint Louis’s brother Charles D’Anjou in Southern Italy. (Compulsory booking at the tourist office).

G Chateau d’Anselme (16th to the 19th century): It was the Marquis d’Anselme’s residence until the early eighties. The castle dominates the Nesque river with its impressive towers from the Renaissance era.

H Eglise Notre-Dame de Nazareth* (11th century): This edifice is a typical Romanesque church of Provence. Most of its architectural elements are from the 12th century. From then, each century brought modifications to the church such as new chapels, new openings and new

paintings. The beautiful organ we can see in the church was built in the 16th century. This organ got its splendour back thanks to its renovation in 1975. It has been five centuries now that the thousand-year-old vaults of the church have been housing the sound of its musical notes.

I Porte Notre-Dame* (16th century): This gate which was built in 1548 is defined as a square shaped tower flanked by two corbel based semi-circular towers. On the massive gate we can see several openings and arrow slits located in a specific way that would permit crossfires. We can also see a shield on which the pope’s coat of arms was damaged by being hammered during the French Revolution. The Notre-Dame des Graces chapel that we can see on the bridge on which Porte Notre-Dame is located was built between 1510 and 1516. For years, this chapel was the place where the stonemasons’ guild would meet. La Halle Couverte (17th century) was under construction from 1622 to 1627. It used to house the market of the time period and was considered as a meeting place for the bourgeoisie at night. Later in 1920, la Halle Couverte used to house a movie theatre that was destroyed in 1967 in order to give the Hall its initial aspect back.

J Maison Fléchier ou Musée des Traditions Comtadines* (17th century): The Maison Fléchier owes its name to the Sacred Speaker at the court of King Louis XIV, Esprit Fléchier, who was born and grew up in this private home. Esprit Fléchier was famous for his funeral orations, and especially for the Turenne funeral oration. The Musée des Traditions Comtadines keeps the traditions of Provencal christmas alive by introducing on a large table in the dining-room the Gros Souper (Main Supper eaten on chisitmas eve) and the «Treize desserts» (13 different kinds of desserts were introduced on a large table after the Main supper such as nougat, walnuts…). This museum also houses the reconstruction of the last santon-maker’s workshop from the village, the reconstruction of an old silkworm nursery and a tribute to the Canal de Carpentras’s creator Louis Giraud.

K Couvent des Ursulines (17th century): This convent was founded by nuns thanks to a grant they received from the town only if they would teach the young girls for free. Today, the whole edifice is interesting to look at because of its massive aspect and its austerity.

L Hôtel de Camaret (17th century): This private home has always belonged to the De Camaret family. Indeed, the descendants of this family own it and have kept the furniture, the architectural style and the tapestry from the 17th century.

M Tour de l’Horloge (12th century): The senechals and later the eccle-siastical rectors lived in this former castle of the Counts of Toulouse. A massive clock was set on its facade in the 15th century. At the top of the tower, we can see a weather vane on which a mouse is being chased by a cat. This weather vane is the origin of two sayings, well known to the locals: «Il est haut comme le chat de Pernes» («He is as high as the cat of Pernes») and «Il est au milieu comme le chat de Pernes («He is in the middle just like the cat of Pernes»). At the bottom of the tower, we can see former prisons with walls covered by hundreds-year-old graffitis. (Compulsory booking at the tourist office).

N Mur Castral: This wall was 1600 metres long when it was built in the 12th century, but only a small part of it is left today.

O Hôtel de Cheylus (16th to the 18th century): We know that there used to be a medieval Jewish quarter at the exact same place where this residence was built. In its cellars, we can find the only private medieval Jewish ritual bath known so far in the county. The Hotel de Cheylus is now a private home.

P Hôtel de Barruel (17th to the 18th century): This private home has kept its antique aspect and its beautiful niche.

Q Hôtel de Jocas (17th century): This private home stands out because of its door, considered to be one of the most beautiful in Pernes. The door itself is spectacular and so is the sculptured stone frame.

R Porte St Gilles (14th century): This entrance-way is the oldest fortified gate in the town. Inside the fortifications, we can still see the room where the portcullis was operated from and the vault from where the men guarded the gate.

S Hôtel de Brancas (17th century): The name of this private home refers to the Brancas family that built it. In 1741, this private home became the place where the local council would meet. After walking through the courtyard to get into the Hôtel de Brancas, a pretty carved door gives access to a staircase with a richly decorated ceiling that takes you to the first floor. You will be amazed by two beautiful living-rooms with «plafonds à la Francaise» (French style ceiling: beams very close to each other) and a frieze of oil paintings representing landscapes, battle, mythology and marine scenes.

Musée Comtadin du Cycle: You will discover an amazing collection of old bicycles in this museum that occupies the vaulted cellars of the current Town Hall. You will get to trace the incredible history of this device from the 1870’s velocipede to the 2008’s Paris-Beijing bicycle and the tandem from the 1936’s paid holiday. This museum is a beautiful tribute to the local father of French bicycle touring: Paul De Vivie, the famous Velocio.

T Place des Comtes de Toulouse: On this square remain two old towers that belonged to the Counts of Toulouse’s castle. One of these towers houses an old oil mill set up there in the 18th century.

U Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Rose (17th century): This chapel owes its name «Notre-Dame de la Rose» to a painted Virgin holding a rose on an adjoining wall. It used to be the place where the weavers and carders’ guilds would meet.

V Chapelle des pénitents blancs (12th century): We know that an old church used to be where the Chapelle des Pénitants Blancs is. After being fitted out by locals in order to become a performance hall, this chapel was restored in 2004 and has hosted numerous exhibitions since then.

W Porte Villeneuve (16th century): We can see a patrol path at the top of this vaulted gate flanked by two circular towers. The town’s coat of arms was destroyed during the French Revolution. Notre-Dame des Abcès (16th century): This chapel located right in front of the Porte de Villeneuve was built as a response to a vow made when the plague was ravaging the town.

X Croix Couverte (15th century): This very rare cross commemorates the day when Pierre de Boet (the first syndic in the town) gave Cardinal De Foix the keys to the town on May 13th, 1433. It is with the Croix de Beaucaire the unique beautiful cross in Provence.

Out of the map:Y Eglise Notre-Dame des Valayans (19th century): The inside of this

church is entirely covered with wall paintings made by Charles Barbentan.Z Musée de La Vieille Ecole : This museum is located on the first floor of

the small Town Hall that was built in 1930.*: Monuments that are classified or registered as Historical Monuments.The city’s coat of armsThe colour azure blue that covers the coat of arms’ background used to be France’s dominant colour in olden days. The golden sun represents the splendour of the town in the past centuries and the silver pearl symbolises the fertility of the region’s agricultural lands. The town’s beautiful motto «Inter alia lucet dei gratia» surrounds the coat of arms. When translated into English, this motto would mean that, thanks to the grace of God, Pernes-Les-Fontaines shines brighter than any other town.

Pernes-les-Fontaines, former capital of the Comtat-Venaissin. Go and discover its heritage…

Office de TourismePlace Gabriel Moutte 84210 Pernes-les-FontainesTél. : 04 90 61 31 04 Fax : 04 90 61 33 23E-mail : contact@tourisme-pernes.fr www.tourisme-pernes.fr

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