Visit to the Village of Ménerbes

At the heart of the region

To the north, under the gaze of the Vaucluse mountains, Gordes, Goult and Rousillon enchant the visitor. To the south of the valley, clinging to the slopes of the Luberon mountain, other magical names resound. Ménerbes, Oppède, Lacoste, Bonnieux, Buoux, or Saignon keep alive the memory of ancestral times. Considered one of the most beautiful villages in France, Ménerbes floats above the Luberon, resting on a rocky spur in the shape of a ship whose stern and prow were described by a certain Nostradamus. Around this promontory, an emblematic nature is offered to the eye at the end of each alley, from the old cemetery dating from Ancient Rome, or from the citadel and the castle. On this sun-drenched territory, where hills, cedar and Atlas forests and garrigues punctuate the wild landscape, man has made vines, lavender fields, olive trees and fruit trees prosper.

Beautiful Forever

The village owes its name to Minerva, an ancient goddess with a golden helmet, who represented art and the fight for just causes. Ménerbes is a reflection of this. Its tumultuous past reveals its proud and combative character. The citadel, built between the 12th and 16th centuries, is the most obvious sign of this. Under siege, it witnessed the Wars of Religion. The two golden keys in its coat of arms bear witness to the time when access to the city, full of underground passages, was through two large gates. The first traces of life on this exceptional site go back much further. The dolmen of Pichouno, located at the edge of the village, on the road to Bonnieux, attests to the presence of Neolithic man. Ménerbes owes the particular charm of its interlaced streets to the richness of its history. To its inhabitants and visitors, it has left a legacy of beautiful residences from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the town hall, flanked by a belfry and its wrought iron campanile, the citadel and the castle. Artists such as Nicolas de Staël, Picasso and Dora Maar were seduced and settled here. More recently, the British writer Peter Mayle has lived here. The village and its surroundings are the setting for his best-selling book "A Year in Provence". He now lives in nearby Lourmarin.

Welcome to chai nous

All around Ménerbes, three vast domains draw a beautiful sunny vineyard. The Citadelle estate houses the corkscrew museum. Le Domaine de Marie, owned by Maisons & Hôtels Sibuet, is the setting for La Bastide de Marie. In the village, the House of Truffles and Wine, housed in a restored 18th century residence, is another invitation to taste the epicurean delights. In the heart of the first truffle-producing region of France, Ménerbes celebrates the precious mushroom. Its market on the last Sunday of the year is a privileged moment to admire it. Ménerbes, a citadel village, is at the heart of a region blessed by the gods. In the quietness of its alleys, one takes time to appreciate the charm of an authentic, discreet and elegant Provence.

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