Vaison-la-Romaine: The Haute Ville and its Cathedral at the Cliff Edge

Vaison-la-Romaine is a town that moved twice. The Romans built in the plain by the Ouvèze; in the Middle Ages, when the plain grew unsafe, the town climbed onto the rock across the river — and centuries later it walked back down again. What remains up there is the Haute Ville: lanes of honey-coloured stone, a castle on the summit, and a cathedral standing literally at the edge of the void.

The Haute Ville on its rock above the Ouvèze, the cathedral at the cliff edge.
The Haute Ville on its rock above the Ouvèze, the cathedral at the cliff edge.

A cathedral at the cliff edge

The cathedral Sainte-Marie-de-l’Assomption was begun in 1464 on the site of an older chapel, its base swallowing the town rampart at the very limit of the drop. Its builders quarried the past: the walls reuse stones from the ruined 12th-century Chapelle Saint-Laurent in the plain, still recognisable by their mason’s marks — the same signatures we found at Montmajour Abbey. The square bell tower followed in 1470, a Jesuit-style façade in 1776. In 1897 the parish moved back down to the Romanesque cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, and the church at the edge fell silent.

It stayed silent for a long time — closed for 25 years until the volunteers of the AECM association (founded 2009) began its rescue: roofs and walls of the cliff-side chapels restored with help from the Loto du Patrimoine, contemporary stained glass by the Dominican artist Père Kim En Joong donated by the Swiss patron Léonard Gianadda. The nave still waits for its roof — a monument historique (since 1994) being brought back one campaign at a time.

Through the lanes

Walking a lane of the Haute Ville, Vaison-la-Romaine — video, 6 seconds.
An old door in the Haute Ville — the lintel a single beam of ancient wood.
An old door in the Haute Ville — the lintel a single beam of ancient wood.

The castle of the Counts of Toulouse

Above everything stands the château comtal, built at the end of the 12th century by the Counts of Toulouse — a 13-metre keep on the summit that became the symbol of their rivalry with the bishops of Vaison. From 1274 castle and county belonged to the papal Comtat Venaissin. Today the scaffolding on its walls is a good sign: restoration is under way.

The château comtal under restoration.
The château comtal under restoration.
The view from the rock plateau over the town.
The view from the rock plateau over the town.

Visiting the Haute Ville

  • Where: Vaison-la-Romaine, Vaucluse — the Haute Ville rises on the south bank of the Ouvèze, reached over the Roman bridge.
  • The cathedral: opening depends on AECM volunteer events and concerts; the exterior and the walk along the rampart edge are always worth it.
  • Combine with: the Roman sites and the cloister of Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth in the lower town — two thousand years of the same town in one afternoon.
  • Best light: late afternoon on the rock face from the river; morning in the lanes.

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