Saint Paul-de-Mausole

The local source at Glanum held a spiritual and healing reputation since the 4th century BC. During the more-recent Medieval times, Christian pilgrims came to invoke Valetuda, the godesse of health, and in the 11th century a Romenesqe-Provencal priory was built here.

Saint-Paul-de-Mausole became a monastery at some time in its Medieval history, with the hospital building Saint-Paul-de-Mausole later built onto the building complex.

The sturdy, two-layer Romanesque bell tower has nice pillared arches, a pyrmidal roof, and still retains an ancient sundial. The inner heart of the monastary is a lovely coister with a central garden of flowers contained in a pattern of ankle-high hedges.

Behind the monastery are the gardens, including a lovely lavender field and a few sundials.

The main point of interest here for us 20th (and 21st) century fans is that this was the home of Vincent Van Gogh during his very troubled time of May 1889 to May 1890. Vincent's small room [photo] had a windown looking out over the gardens behind the buildings.

Entry times and cost are listed on Saint Remy-de-Provence Museums.