6 Centuries of History

Saint Louis Church:

It consists of two chapels linked by Melchior de Forbin in 1742 with a nef. The first chapel was built by the colonists in the 16th Century. The second one, called the Saint Esprit Chapel, used to contain the grave of Annibal de Forbin killed in single combat on the ramparts of Aix-en-Provence. Today in Baroque style, the church is the work of the Abbot Cazin, and was made accessible to the inhabitants of la Roque d’Antheron in July, 1897. It enjoys exceptional acoustics.


The Temple, a testiment to the Valdesian history of the village:

In order to repopulate his lands, Jean de Forbin in 1514 made 70 families relocate from the Durance high valleys. Among them many were Valdesians. The Luberon was widely repopulated by these alpine colonists, but La Roque d'Antheron is one of the rare Valdesian villages in the Bouches du Rhône. The village experienced turmoil under the rule of Baron Meynier d'Oppède. This included war and the beginnings of the religious wars, which resulted in more than 3000 victims in a single week. The Valdesians at first occupied the district of Silvacane. After this was burned, they settled down in the eastern part of the village. Around the traditional houses, they erected the first temple of the valley (1560). The current temple dates to 1860. In fact it was the second temple to be built.
To date nobody knows where the original temple is hidden as it was built in a period of religious conflict. The temple conceals numerous testimonies of this Valdesian past. A Communion table and a Baptismal Font made from Carrara marble connect La Roque d’Antheron to the Swiss church of Marseille, consolidating the vital patrimony that a famous Swiss man bequeathed to this territory: F.M of Montrichet. The temple houses the ‘Walcker Organ’commissioned by Adolphe Gaiffe in 1877, on the occasion of the birth of his daughter, and gifted to the Swiss city of Ozon.


>> Interested in our village history? Curious to discover the wonders of the region? Download our excursions booklets now available in english!

> The trail of castles
> A Waldensian and Protestant village
> Following the water canals