les vans (07140)

Les Vans sits between the Monts de l’Ardèche natural park and the Cévennes national park. Les Vans has magnificent buildings and remarkable architecture showing remains of the splendour of the village in the seventeenth century. The weekly Les Vans market is renowned in the region for its conviviality and the quality of its local produce, in particular seasonal fruits and vegetables, cheeses, and wines from the Ardèche. This is a village not to miss.

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At the cultural level, Les Vans became recognised in 1208. Les Vans has a rich heritage, with in particular the Saint-Pierre church, built in the 17th century, and the Sainte-Philomène chapel, dating from the 19th century. The town also has several museums, including the Ardèche Heritage Museum, which traces the history and traditions of the region.

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The 17th century church of Saint Pierre houses a magnificent baroque wooden altarpiece and a bell tower with four bells, the largest of which weighs more than a ton. The Protestant temple, flanked by its remarkable columns testifies to the very Protestant past of the city. Finally, three museums allow the curious to learn more about Les Vans, the Musée des Vans, the Musée Léopold Ollier, and the olive museum.

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In 1900, thanks to global financial contributions, two monumental statues were made by Alfred Boucher, in honor of Louis Ollier, father of orthopedics and surgical repair, native of the village. One of them still sits at “Place de Graves”. The other was erected in Lyon but was later stolen by the Germans during the war.

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Bois de Paiolive

No visit to Les Vans is complete without a trip to the Bois de Paiolive a forest of petrified rock and white oaks forming a set of labyrinths classified as a "Sensitive Natural Area" by the Departmental Council of the Ardèche. A walk here is a must.