Peyroules

Overview

commune

Where to stay in Peyroules

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What to see, what to do

Church of Saint-Pons (Vieux-Peyroules)

The former parish church of the old fortified village of Vieux-Peyroules, at the foot of a ruined fortress; a Romanesque church of moving simplicity overlooking a stony site. Dated to the 11th century by some sources (an earlier foundation with 14th-century alterations according to the DRAC), it was restored up to 2013. Registered on the supplementary inventory of historic monuments in 2006. It holds various religious objects (crucifix, candlesticks, paintings, statues).

Parish church of Sainte-Anne (La Rivière)

The former chapel of Sainte-Anne in the hamlet of La Rivière, which became the parish church in the early 19th century (built/enlarged around 1830) after the population shifted. It holds a 19th-century processional banner depicting the 'Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament', registered as a historic object.

Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (La Foux)

The church of the hamlet of La Foux, with a bell dated 1560. The hamlet was used as a location for the film 'Jeux interdits'.

Chapel of the Transfiguration / Saint-Sauveur (La Bâtie)

A chapel built in 1651 in the hamlet of La Bâtie, topped by a bell-gable above the west front.

Old fortified villages and feudal remains

The commune keeps several former fortified hilltop villages: Vieux-Peyroules (a ruined keep), La Foux (a fortified castle built in the middle of the 13th century, and a fortified farm with a dovecote), La Bâtie (the former 'Bastide-du-Jabron', 13th century), Le Mousteiret (an old fortified village with a rock-cut shelter). The town hall occupies an 18th-century former seigneurial house.

Mousteiret cave and prehistoric enclosure

The Mousteiret cave was occupied several times in the Neolithic, and there is a prehistoric fortified enclosure, evidence of very early occupation of the plateau. The place name Mousteiret comes from 'monastery'.

Passage of the Route Napoléon (Le Mousteiret)

On 3 March 1815, coming from Séranon, Napoleon entered the Basses-Alpes by way of Le Mousteiret, on the territory of Peyroules. The commune is today marked out by the Route Napoléon (RN 85 / D 4085), the tourist route of the return from Elba.

History of Peyroules

Peyroules appears in 1045 as Peirolas, then as de Petrolis (1300) and Perrolas in the 16th century, a place name meaning a stony spot or ruins. The lordship was held by the Castellane family from the 13th to the 18th century, then by the Valbelle until the Revolution; the parish came under the bishop of Senez and the priory of Saint-Jean-de-la-Foux depended on the Abbey of Lérins. The communities of Le Mousteiret and La Bâtie, independent in the Middle Ages, were attached to Peyroules in 1278 and in the 15th century respectively: the commune is thus the union of four hamlets (La Bâtie, Le Mousteiret, La Foux, La Rivière). On 3 March 1815 Napoleon, coming up from Séranon towards Castellane, entered the department by way of Le Mousteiret. In the early 19th century the population shifted and the chapel of Sainte-Anne at La Rivière became the parish church; the Napoleonic land register was completed in 1834. The population peaked at 674 inhabitants in 1793, before a heavy rural exodus from 1866 onwards brought it down to 82 inhabitants in 1975; it has grown again since and now exceeds 250. The economy combines sheep farming, cereals and substantial tourism, helped by the Route Napoléon and the natural setting.