Thorame-Basse

Overview

A rural commune of the Issole valley, rich in early religious heritage and in listed medieval frescoes.

Where to stay in Thorame-Basse

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What to see, what to do

Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens

The parish church, dated 1588, housing a listed altarpiece (late 17th – early 18th century).

Chapel of Saint-Thomas (Château-Garnier)

A 12th-13th-century chapel decorated with listed frescoes spanning several periods (12th to 16th century) — a painted ensemble that is rare in the high mountains.

Chapel of Notre-Dame de Piégut

It preserves a listed 16th-century marble statue of the Virgin.

Tower of Piégut

A 14th-century tower with rib-vaulted rooms, a remnant of the fortified community which, on the height of Piégut, was a dependency of the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille.

House of 1504

An old dwelling decorated with atlantes and caryatids, evidence of village architecture of the early 16th century.

History of Thorame-Basse

Thorame-Basse shares with Thorame-Haute the heritage of the ancient city of 'Eturamina'. It is mentioned in the 11th century in the form 'Toramina', the administrative distinction between the two Thorames becoming fixed at the beginning of the 13th century. Attached to the viguerie of Castellane in 1342, the place came under several successive seigneurial lines (Piégut, Féraud-Glandevès, d'Oraison), while the fortified community of Piégut remained linked to the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Marseille. The Wars of Religion struck it hard — in 1586 the fortified bell tower was besieged by the Protestants and the church burnt down. After the upheavals of the Revolution (the storming of the castle in 1791), the commune followed the demographic decline common to the valley, falling from nearly 900 inhabitants at the beginning of the 19th century (894 in 1831) to a low of 129 inhabitants in 1982, before a slow recovery. In 1948, two air accidents occurred on the heights of the Cheval Blanc.

Getting to Thorame-Basse

• Nearest train station: Gare de Thorame-Haute (train des Pignes, Chemins de fer de Provence)