|
|
Pernes-les-Fontaines,
the pearl of the Comtat, has for its coat of arms a golden sun symbolising the
splendor of the village, accompanied by a silver pearl which commemorates the
fruitfulness and richness of its fertile
soil.
|
|
|
Pernes-les-Fontaines
is a very ancient town, whose origins go back to the Gallo-Roman era. It is however in the 10th century
that the town takes on an importance and becomes the capital of the Comtat
Venaissin, a title kept until 1320.
After the French
Revolution in 1791, the Comtat Venaissin was reannexed to France.In the 20th century, in 1936, the
town adopted the name of Pernes-les-Fontains to mark forever its veneration for
the water and its beautiful fountains so precious in
Provence.
A village known as well for
marshland agriculture, it is in fact due to the enterprising work of a Pernois,
Louis Giraud, in the 19th century, with the construction of the canal
of Carpentras, that the plain of the Comtat earns its reputation as the garden
of France.
- Architectural
heritage
:
The town of Pernes-les-Fontaines
has:
22 buildings
classified or registered in the list of
Historic Monuments,
40 fountains
which include: the fountain
of the Cormoran, classified Historic
Monument,
the fountains
of the New Gate
Reboul , The
Augustins , Fountains of
Gigot and l’Hôpital, registered as
historic monuments
14 mansions
including the Fléchier House (Museum of Comtadine Traditions) and the City
Hall
3 gates of
the town ramparts with their chapel:
Notre-Dame
Gate and its bridge , Villeneuve
gate , Saint-Gilles
gate
Covered Hall
(17th century),
Covered Cross
(15th century), the last in Provence along with that of Annot (Alpes
de Haute Provence) and Beaucaire (Gard), The Chapels
of Notre-Dame-des-Abcès and Saint-Roch,
The private
Jewish Baths in the Hotel of Cheylus.
|
