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 Fontaine de Vaucluse


Fontaine de Vaucluse, in France
Petrarch's native land, at the zenith of touristic curiosities

Fontaine de Vaucluse - France
Museum Fontaine de Vaucluse - Petrarque Museum Petrarque Museum - Fontaine de Vaucluse

Indissociable from the name of this village at the zenith of the region's touristic curiosities, Francesco Petrarch is one of the leading attractions in Fontaine de Vaucluse, in France . In the shade, by the murmuring of the waters, the Francesco Petrarch Museum grows richer all the time with rare editions and period engravings. A part of its collections is devoted to René Char, another local celebrity of world renowned poetry. Once through the door of the Museum you come across a bust of the famous Prince of Poets, a work by the sculptor Virgilio Mortet (inaugurated in 1974 for the 600th anniverary of the death of the poet). Another sculpture, that of Monsieur P de Nolhac, nestles in the hollow of a bas relief. Pink marble and a crown of laurels are engraved for eternity with one sentence "Here, Petrarch made Laura immortal and gave to the world the treasure of Antique litterature".


Saint Veran is the other main figure in Fontaine. A church of the same name is dedicated to him, where Saint Mary is also venerated. The visitor enters through a door surmounted by an oculus. Inside, he or she will discover a 14th century nave of three bays and a vault, called a "cul de four", characteristic of Provençal Romanesque chruches. Two magnificent fluted columns of Roman origin are the star attraction of the tour. Outside, the eye meets, dumbfounded, a strange bestiary (lion, eagle, bat, fox, cow) on an upper part of the building next to enigmatic masks and double human heads. Saint Veran's tomb can be found in the "Cella". A small tabular altar from the Merovingian era and a statue of the Saint striking down the "couloubre", half dragon, half serpent, end this tour that promises a thousand surprises.

Fontaine de Vaucluse - Museum of the Resistance
Fontaine de Vaucluse - Musée de l'Appel de la Liberté
Museum in Fontaine de Vaucluse

Fontaine de Vaucluse's heritage has grown richer in recent years by a group of Museums of some interest.

The Musée de l'Appel de la liberté, also called the "Museum of the Resistance", is an exceptional display of the period 1939-1945. The very judicious choice of objects and the ingenuity of their presentation make it an educational museum. Posters, a classroom under the sway of Pétain's paternalistic ideology, a documentary about the Resistance, one section, rare, of clandestine papers and revues, manuscripts by René Char, Mauriac, Desnos, all these artefacts keep alive a taste for study and rekindle the flame of remembrance.

A detour by way of the Musée Historique de la Justice et des Châtiments (Museum of the History of Justice and Punishment) lets you familiarize yourself, in all safety, with diverse instruments of torture and executions.

Also to see, to better better imbue yourself with the spirit of the place : "The Subterranean World of Nobert Casteret" (an amazing collection of speleological sites and material) ; "Vallis Clausa", an eco-museum about the once flourishing paper mills ; and masses of archaeological details scattered about along the paths of bucolic walks and romantic strolls.


Fontaine de Vaucluse - Vallis Clausa
Vallis Clausa in Fontaine de Vaucluse

© Texts Michel Ban : michelban@tele2.fr - © A and JP Fizet - François Lochon (Gamma)


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