Puimoisson

Overview

commune

Where to stay in Puimoisson

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Services & shops in Puimoisson

EV charging — in the village: Rue Hoche (2 points), network eborn. See the map of Verdon charging points →

What to see, what to do

Church of Saint-Michel

A parish church in Gothic style (16th century) with a Flamboyant doorway; its bell tower dates from 1741. The parish came under the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, who had settled at Puimoisson as early as the 12th century.

Former commandery

A commandery of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, built against the parish church and born of the episcopal donations of 1120 and 1125. Contrary to what some sources report, the house always belonged to the Hospitallers and never to the Templars.

Chapel of Saint-Apollinaire

A fortified chapel of the 12th-13th centuries, standing alone on the plateau, classified as a historic monument.

Chapel of Notre-Dame de Bellevue

The present chapel succeeded a rural chapel recorded in the 12th century; a hermitage was built alongside it in the 17th century. The site offers a viewpoint over the Valensole plateau.

Lavender fields and distillery

Expanses of lavender and lavandin characteristic of the Valensole plateau, in full bloom from late June through July; a lavender distillery operates on the commune. Olive groves come under the AOC Huile d'olive de Provence designation.

History of Puimoisson

The soil of Puimoisson has yielded several Gallo-Roman remains, including a necropolis at Pas-de-Laval and a villa at Pas-de-Saint-Jacques, evidence of early occupation. The village appears in written sources in 1093 in the form Pogium muxonis, and a castle motte was raised there in the 11th century. In the following century the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem established themselves in the village: around 1120, Augier, bishop of Riez, gave the church of Saint-Michel to Gérard Tenque, founder of the order, and in 1125 granted the order the parish church and its dependencies. They then extended their hold over the lordship, acquired in part in 1150 and in full in 1231, and Puimoisson became an important centre of their network on the plateau. During the Wars of Religion the town was attacked by the Protestants in 1574 and then, in the spring of 1585, was the target of a raid by the Catholic League. The economy of the commune has remained deeply agricultural (lavender, olive trees, cereals): farming still accounted for 83.9% of land use in 2018, and a cereal cooperative was set up here in 1984.