Montmeyan

Overview

A commune in the Var (83), arrondissement of Brignoles, part of the Communauté de communes Provence Verdon, and a member of the Parc naturel régional du Verdon. INSEE code 83084, postal code 83670. (The code 83081 sometimes cited in fact corresponds to Montauroux; the official INSEE code for Montmeyan is 83084.)

Where to stay in Montmeyan

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Services & shops in Montmeyan

EV charging — in the village: MONTMEYAN (2 points), network ELECTRIC 55 CHARGING. See the map of Verdon charging points →

What to see, what to do

Fortified medieval village and Charlemagne Tower

Old Montmeyan preserves the remains of its 12th-century walls: the northern curtain wall, a gate, medieval houses (notably on rue du Couvent) and the ruins of the castle. The Charlemagne Tower, a square tower pierced with arrow slits, dominates the village (dated to the 12th century, like the ramparts); a semicircular tower survives on rue des Tours.

Chapel of the Saint-Esprit

A 12th-century building erected on the summit of a rocky promontory, formerly a dependency of the hospitaller Order of the Saint-Esprit, which ran a hospital here until the 17th century. In the 20th century the building served as a studio for the sculptor Victor Nicolas. A viewpoint over the surrounding countryside.

Parish church of Notre-Dame

A church of Romanesque origin (12th century), remodelled in 1510, 1675 and 1885, with a square bell tower topped by a campanile with a clock. It houses several movable objects protected as Monuments historiques (statues, reliquary busts, paintings), including a statue of the Virgin and Child attributed to the sculptor Dominique Molknecht.

Montmeyan Bridge (known as the Quinson Bridge)

A bridge crossing the Verdon towards Quinson, with an ovoid arch, of medieval origin (12th century). Sabotaged by the Resistance in July 1944, it was rebuilt as early as 1945.

Beau Rivé Aqueduct

A structure roughly 89 m long with ten semicircular arches, built around 1865 to feed the Canal du Verdon.

La Roquette castle site

At La Grande Roquette survive the remains of the former castle village of La Roquette (the 12th-century Castelar tower, remnants of a church and a village), a toll-levying seigneury that commanded a crossing of the Verdon, abandoned as early as the 15th century and merged into Montmeyan in 1840.

Megalithic and prehistoric heritage

The area is rich in ancient remains: the dolmen de la Colle (Copper Age, Bois de Malassoque), two tumuli at La Petite Roquette, the Breuil rock shelter (Middle Palaeolithic) near the Verdon, a Celto-Ligurian oppidum and Roman remains (a potter's kiln, rural settlements).

Les Trois Croix

A crossroads at the highest point, where the lands of Fox-Amphoux, Montmeyan and Tavernes meet; a former procession site, now equipped with an orientation table.

History of Montmeyan

The name Montmeyan appears in the archives as early as the 12th century (Locus de Monte Mejano, Montis Mejani, Monte Medio), meaning 'middle mountain': the village occupies a central position in Provence, connected to a Gaulish root (Mediolanon / Mediolanum) evoking a central point. The area has been inhabited for a very long time, from the Palaeolithic to the Roman era. In the Middle Ages, the Order of the Temple established itself here from 1164 (a donation by Hugues de Montmeyan) and fortified the Castelar de la Roquette; the commandery of Saint-Maurice acquired the castrum of Montmeyan and its castle in 1221. After the dissolution of the Temple (1308-1312), the land passed to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem. In 1322, Arnaud de Trian, Count of Alife and nephew of Pope John XXII, acquired the territory; in 1435, Marguerite de Trians married Georges de Castellane-Salernes and brought the seigneury into the Castellane family, which would hold it for more than three centuries. In 1644 the castle was described as a 'sumptuous residence' adorned with Flanders tapestries. The neighbouring seigneury of La Roquette, held by the Oraison and then the Foresta families, was raised to a barony (1647) and then a marquisate (1651). During the Revolution, the co-lords emigrated and the forests were declared national property. The commune of La Roquette was merged into Montmeyan in 1840, the year the population reached its historic peak (768 inhabitants). Montmeyan stands out for its strong republican spirit: a secret society, the 'Nouvelle Montagne', around 1850; an uprising against the coup d'état of 1851 (around a hundred men joined the ranks at Aups); and 46 republicans prosecuted and later compensated by the Republic in 1882. A cooperative winery, 'la Montmeyannaise', operated from 1922 to 1989. A forestry hamlet took in former harkis and their families in late 1962, marking the village's demographic revival.

Events & highlights

Onion Fair (Festival) — 3rd Sunday of September

The village's emblematic festival celebrating the onion, symbol of the commune: a country fair, a competition for the largest onion and for scarecrows, and a giant pissaladière.

Feast of Saint-Léger — Pentecost weekend

The village's patronal festival.

Feast of Notre-Dame — Last weekend of August

A votive festival.