Bollène

Our town map shows only the principal sites, to help you get oriented for your explorations. Apart from its own sites, Bollène is central to some other tiny medieval villages worth visiting, and could be a handy base. (We've done overnights here ourselves for that very reason.) There are enough hotels and restaurants in Bollène to give you a fair choice.

The central square of Bollène is Place Henri Reynaud de la Gardette, in front of the imposing town hall (Hotel de Ville). The square was created in 1880, followed by the neoredaissance Hotel de Ville, built in the image of the Hotel de Ville of Paris.

The left wing of the town hall was designed to house a grand bazzar. Today it hosts the town cinema.

On the south side of Place Gardette, facing the town hall, is a magnificent statue called Les Lutteurs (the wrestlers), by Bollène's own Félix Charpentier. Depicting Greek-Roman wrestling that was popular in Provence in the 19th century, the statue helped Charpentier win France's Légion of Honour in 1892. In 1900 the statue itself won the Paris Salon's highest Medal of Honor.

An excellent brochure of walking tours is available from the Bollène's modern tourist office (near the river), describing two different themed tours. The Historical Circuit covers most of the town center and the old town, up to the river. This route visits many hôtels particulier (townhouses) dating back to the 16th century, including (our photo) the 18th-century Hotel Roquard with its columned doorway at the right and an elegant sundial.

The Medieval Circuit walking tour is much shorter that the historical, but is hilly, with very many steps. It visits the four main historical sites on the hills just south of the center. Using a map, you can avoid the long steps of the official route by taking alternate streets: fairly steep but no steps.

The jewel at the top of the hill is the Collegiale Saint-Martin. The church was consecrated at the beginning of th4e 12th century, around 1112-1119. The priory was added much later, in 1427. In 1562, at the beginning of the Wars of Religion, Protestants destroyed the priory and damaged the church. The Catholics recaptured Bollène the following year, and the town subsequently rebuilt church and priory, in 1579. The large, rectangular clock tower was rebuilt into its currrent form in 1618.

There are some great panoramic views from both sides of the Collegiale Saint-Martin. You have an excellent view across the town's medieval rooftops and over the Donzère-Mondragon canal, where the medieval scene in counterpointed by the steam from the nuclear power plant cooling towers. To the north you can see the hills where the Barry Troglodyte Village village is located.

The Cours Jean Jaures is the main street curving across the "upper town" of Bollène, lined with almost bungalow styled houses, and leading around to the southwest to the pretty Three Crosses Chapel. About half way along this street is the Casino du Puy, a good bar-restaurant with simple lunch menus and a great local ambience.

In the southwestern part of "upper" Bollène is a 17th-century chapel sitting in the middle of an open park. Called on a local sign, Chapelle des Trois Croix (Three Crosses Chapel), town brochures label this Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Calvaire. Whatever its true name, its a simple, but pretty, stone chapel, and from the edge of the park you have a terrific view out across the countryside, with a handy panorama identification table.

The tall, rectangular stone building jutting up all on its own, without windows except for a row of tiny ones around the top, is the 15th-16th century Tower House Maison de la Tour. It was once part of the "Cardinals'" palace complex, and is no-doubt missing some of the connecting parts. The tiny windows around the top were shooting slots for defense.

The Maison Cardinale (Cardinals' House) was built in the 12th century. Its name came from much later though: the Cardinals attached to Avignon who owned the priory in Bollène lived here in the 14th century ... and so it became known by that name.

Barry Troglodyte Village is an ancient cave-dwelling site just 5.5 km north of Bollène (a 10-15 minute drive).

Mornas is a small medieval village 15 km south of Bollène, with a hilltop fortress and a medieval festival every July that's great fun.