Vaison-la-Romaine

This typical Provençal town with a beautiful old centre divided by the river Ouvèze and with the medieval town on the hill is another of the great archaeological centres of Provence and in particular the largest in France.

There are three keys to visiting the town, the Roman part, the medieval part and the Romanesque part.

Things to do

• At the Puymin site, you can admire Roman houses, mosaics, the villa of the Messii, an ancient theatre and the archaeological museum.
• At La Villasse, there are excavations of Roman houses, colonnaded shops and thermal baths.
• Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth Cathedral, one of the most beautiful Romanesque buildings in the region with a fascinating cloister.
• Cross the Roman bridge (the only one in the area to have withstood the flooding of the river) to reach the splendid medieval town, whose narrow cobbled alleyways lead you to the castle, a vantage point over the city