St. Saturnin is an authentic medieval village with very little touristic accoutrements, although it has a couple of hotels and is a popular base for hiking up onto the Plateau de Vaucluse. A few main streets run through the village parallel to the hills, lined by long strings of connected medieval houses, and many little cross streets pass through low vaulted passages beneath the houses.At one end of the village, the street passes out through the 13th-century "portail Ayguier", an arched defensi ...
St. Saturnin is an authentic medieval village with very little touristic accoutrements, although it has a couple of hotels and is a popular base for hiking up onto the Plateau de Vaucluse. A few main streets run through the village parallel to the hills, lined by long strings of connected medieval houses, and many little cross streets pass through low vaulted passages beneath the houses.At one end of the village, the street passes out through the 13th-century "portail Ayguier", an arched defensive entry through the fortified corner building of the old fortifications.
Behind the village, paved steps and pathways go up through the remains of 11th-century walls (with interesting herringbone stonework) to the ruins of a massive defensive castle on the high end of the cliffs.The Eglise St-Etienne was built about 1860, to replace the Romanesque church at the same site. Inside is a 14th century wooden statue of the Virgin and child (Le trésor de Saint-Etienne) and a few fine paintings from the 16th century. The church also has a 6-bell carillon.
The Chapelle Castrale Saint-Saturnin was consecrated in the middle of the 11th century, making it one of the oldest around. It was enlarged in the beginning of the 18th century.9km from the beautiful town of Apt, 11km from the charming village of Roussillon, only 16km from the world famous cliff village of Gordes and only 40mins drive to Avignon. St-Saturnin-les-Apt is simply in the middle of one of the most fabulous scenery you can find in Provence.