The gardens at the Abbey of Valsaintes

Four kilometres from Simiane la Rotonde, the Abbey of Valsaintes sits on a rocky promontory and invites you to discover a remarkable garden, a 17th century Cistercian church, a land with a history going back to Prehistoric times, a rose garden and a shop selling regional products.

The tour of the garden at the Abbey of Valsaintes is an invitation to awaken your sense of wonder, to wander as your mood takes you, to relax to enjoy the serenity, all combined with the pleasure of exploring an exceptional natural, historic and spiritual place. Count on devoting two hours to this tour if you wish to discover all the riches that the garden holds

A remarkable garden, it employs 100% natural practices (homeopathy, aromatherapy, mulching with local lavender straw, auxiliary garden insects, dynamized water...).

Along each terrace of land, you can stroll through the floral spaces rich with a thousand spring bulbs, with 550 varieties of roses of which you learn about the history as you follow the “Voie des Roses", and with the intermingling of spontaneous or introduced flowers.

You will be able to explore the dry garden with its 350 plant varieties growing on arid land, without forgetting the 35 varieties of lavender and a small olive grove.
The agroecological garden was inspired by Pierre Rabhi's agricultural and philosophical movement with the desire to introduce the garden's visitors to a bionomic approach to vegetable cultivation.


And throughout your tour: the house of ladybirds, the house of butterflies and lacewings, the birds' nesting boxes, the hedgehog's den, the badger's passage, the insects, the fluidic vortex that dynamises the water, the melody of the wind chimes... all will absolutely enchant you.

Photographers will find a paradise here! A 32-page practical guide is given, free of charge, to all visitors; it's a wealth of  information about the Abbey's garden, its plants, the fauna, the maintenance practices...

Life at the Abbey of Valsaintes is punctuated by events, entertainment and activities (concerts, lectures, guided tours, courses...).