In Valreas, cultural history and architecture take many forms: a model, a digital museum, a historic monument and a festival. Château de Simiane hosts a year-round exhibition featuring around forty models. They were made by Jean-Claude Vangierdegom and depict the most important architectural landmarks of the Enclave des Papes and the Pays de Grignan. The exhibition thus focuses on the architectural heritage of both areas.
Exhibitions at Château de Simiane
The château offers free exhibitions, concerts, events and tours of its special rooms throughout the year. The programme for individual offerings may change. If you want to focus your visit on a particular event or room, check what is currently on offer beforehand.
The château’s Micro-Folie has a digital focus. As an interactive digital museum, it makes more than 4,000 works accessible via screens and virtual reality headsets. Alongside the models of monuments, digital works and different ways of accessing them are therefore a central focus. The collections on display and the facilities may change.
The Salles d'Archéologie have their own visiting hours: they are open to the public in summer. During the rest of the year, visits are possible by appointment. If you want to visit these rooms, check the visiting arrangements beforehand and take the seasonal schedule into account when planning.
Monuments and views
Tour Ripert is a square tower 17 metres high and about 7 metres wide. It is the keep of Château Ripert; the people of Valreas call it the clock tower. Tour Ripert offers 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape. Its shape, dimensions and views each offer a different way to appreciate the tower: you can admire it as a structure while also looking out across the landscape.
Eglise Notre-Dame de Nazareth is a Romanesque church dating from the 12th century. Its furnishings include an Italian-style organ case from 1506. The two dates refer to different things: the period when the church was built and the date of this specific historic furnishing.
Festivals in different formats
The Nuit du Petit Saint Jean is a historical re-enactment celebrated since 1504. The Corso de la Lavande is a four-day festival in Valreas. It includes parades with flower-decorated floats, concerts, the election of the Corso queen, a mass, a flea market and a fair. These descriptions refer to different festival formats: a historical re-enactment and a multi-day programme of events. If you want to include either in your stay, check the specific event dates beforehand.
A glimpse into industrial history
The Musée du Cartonnage et de l’Imprimerie is in Valreas, in the heart of the Enclave des Papes. It traces the history of industrial activity in the fields of cardboard packaging and printing. This activity has had a major influence on the area’s economic, social and cultural identity. The museum thus complements the perspectives on architectural history and festivals with an important chapter in the region’s industrial history.
Discover more destinations: Caseneuve, Saint-Romain-En-Viennois, La Motte-D'aigues, Le Thor, Visan, Loriol-Du-Comtat, Vitrolles-En-Lubéron, Richerenches.
For the overview of the wider area: Vaucluse.
