Riez

Overview

A commune.

Where to stay in Riez

≈ 74 listed places to stay (indicative · Booking · 2026-07-06)

Compare and book on the major platforms. Hotels, campsites and gîtes in Riez will soon have their verified listing on LiveVerdon.

Services & shops in Riez

EV charging — in the village: Riez - 22kW AC (2 points) · Boulevard de Narwick (2 points), network ITM RIEZ - DALILAS, eborn. See the map of Verdon charging points →

Fuel: 2 petrol stations in the commune. See live prices →

Food & groceries

• Vival31 Allées Louis Gardiol
• Proxi Marchéquartier la Rouguière

Bakery

• Boulangerie-pâtisserie du centre

Pharmacy

• Pharmacie de Riez

Health (doctor, nurse…)

• Dr Jean-Jacques Glas
• Cabinet dentaire de Riez
• Réflexologie – Naturopathie

Fuel

• Station-service de Riez

Bank / ATM

• Banques et distributeurs du centre-bourg

Post office

• Bureau de poste au centre-bourg

Tobacconist & newsagent

• Tabac-presse de Riez

Car garage

• Garages et réparation auto de Riez

Spa, massage & wellness

• Reflets de Femmes

Services verified on 2026-07-06.

What to see, what to do

The Four Roman Columns

Four monolithic columns of grey granite about 5.90 m tall, crowned with Corinthian capitals of white marble and linked by an architrave. The only standing remains of an ancient temple, often supposed to have been dedicated to Apollo (an attribution that remains hypothetical). Proposed dating: late 1st century. Classified as historic monuments in 1840. They stand isolated on the plain, away from the medieval town.

Merovingian baptistery

A 5th-century baptistery, one of the few preserved in France along with that of Fréjus. An octagonal plan inscribed within a square, with a central baptismal basin surrounded by eight reused ancient granite columns with marble Corinthian capitals. The dome was rebuilt in the 12th century. It is a remnant of an early cathedral complex that has since disappeared. Classified as a historic monument in 1840; it now houses a lapidary museum (Gallo-Roman steles, a sarcophagus, cinerary urns).

Roman baths

The bath complex of the Roman colony, identified as early as 1842 and systematically excavated from 1970 onwards. Classified as a historic monument in 1983.

Saint-Maxime hill and chapel

A hill overlooking the town (site of the first oppidum of the Reii and then of an episcopal castrum in the early Middle Ages). The Saint-Maxime chapel that crowns it was completed in 1665, after the destruction of the old castle and the hilltop cathedral. Panoramic view over the Valensole plateau.

Former cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption

The cathedral of the lower town, whose construction began around 1490; the episcopal seat was transferred there in 1523. Damaged during the Wars of Religion (1574), it was rebuilt with the financial support of Henry III; the bell tower was completed in 1605, and seven chapels were added in 1649. Riez was the seat of a bishopric from the 5th century until the Revolution.

Renaissance mansions (Hôtel de Mazan, Hôtel Ferrier)

Renaissance residences in the old centre. The Hôtel de Mazan (dated 1523) preserves a staircase with remarkable gypsum-plaster decoration. The Hôtel Ferrier, from the late 15th century, was built by Bishop Marc Lascaris de Tende (partial collapse in 2012).

Town gates and clock tower

Remains of the town wall rebuilt in 1381-1384 on a reduced perimeter: the Porte Aiguière and the Porte Saint-Sols, monumental gateways, as well as a clock tower. The Fontaine de la Colonne is mentioned as early as 1412.

Archaeological museum and faience of Riez

An archaeological museum founded in 1929, presenting the town's Gallo-Roman past. Riez was also a centre of faience in the Provençal tradition. Lavender, honey and truffles are among the local products.

History of Riez

Riez is the former capital of the Reii, a Gaulish people settled on the oppidum of the Saint-Maxime hill before the Roman conquest. On the plain, the Romans founded a colony under Latin law, Colonia Julia Augusta Apollinaris Reiorum, counted among the cities of Gallia Narbonensis and set at a crossroads of routes. Having become the seat of a bishopric as early as the 5th century — its first known bishop, Maximus, was consecrated around 434, and the city hosted a council in 439 — it preserves its Early Christian baptistery from that period. In the early Middle Ages, the bishopric withdrew to the Saint-Maxime hill, where a castrum stood, before the lower town developed again from the 12th century onwards. The town wall was rebuilt in 1381-1384. During the Wars of Religion, the town was captured by the Protestants in July 1574, which led to the ruin of the cathedral's choir and bell tower; the castle and the hilltop church were destroyed in 1596. The bishopric was abolished at the Revolution. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the commune lived on agriculture (cereals, olive trees, lavender, truffles) and, like the whole plateau, experienced a tourism revival from the late 1970s thanks to its proximity to the Verdon and Lake Sainte-Croix.