Les Baux-de-Provence - France
Posted by: 
denben
N 43° 44.634 E 004° 47.716
31T E 644552 N 4844995
La mairie of Les Baux-de-Provence is located in the old hotel of Manville dating from 1571.
Waymark Code: WMTTVQ
Location: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Date Posted: 01/07/2017
Views: 12
Les Baux-de-Provence has a spectacular position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its name refers to its site: in Provençal, a bauç is a rocky spur.
It is one of the most beautiful villages in France and has over 1.5 million visitors per year although it has only 22 residents in the upper part of the commune and 436 for the whole commune.
The commune has many buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments, among them the Town Hall, a Castle (10.5 €), the Church of Saint Vincent.
The most beautiful Renaissance Hotel in the city was built in 1571 by a rich Protestant family, that of Claude de Manville. The irregular façade along the main street is largely open by large mullioned windows. The portico courtyard repeats the same ordinance of the Renaissance windows. The building was restored by the City in the late 1960s. It is now the seat of the Town Hall.
In a beautiful vaulted room on the ground floor there are regular exhibitions of contemporary art. During our visit in October 2016 we were able to admire the works of Clémence van Lunen (ceramics and glass).
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