Pernes-les-Fontaines is a city of water and history with its 41 fountains, in Provence at the foot of Mont Ventoux !

The Circuit of fountains

Located in the fertile plain of the Monts de Vaucluse backed by Mont Ventoux, between Carpentras and Isle sur la Sorgue, Pernes-les-Fontaines is also called “the Pearl of the Comtat“. The town which benefited from a natural spring and had 36 fountains in 1936, became “Pernes-les-Fontaines”. And fountains, there are ! No less than 41 – twice as many if you count the private fountains – dating from the 18th century and several of which are classified as Historic Monuments. Covered with mosses or mascarons, monumental or tiny, you can admire them at your own pace by letting yourself be guided by the rustle of water or by following the “Circuit of Fountains“. Among the most beautiful, the Gigot fountain at the foot of the Tour Ferrande, or the Cormoran fountain near the covered market.

Middle Ages fortifications

Pernes les Fontaines conceal many other treasures that you will be able to discover by browsing its alleys and cobbled streets on foot or by horse-drawn carriage with “Pernes à Cheval” or “Les Anes de Pernes”: * the fortifications erected in the Middle Ages are admirably intact with 3 remaining towers. The most spectacular is the Porte Notre-Dame, from 1548, located where the ramparts run along the Nesque. To the outside, the door is extended by a bridge surmounted by the Notre-Dame-des-Grâces chapel. The chapel, built in 1510, was for a long time the seat of the Freemasons. * the Clock Tower, a vestige of the 12th century castle of the Counts of Toulouse. At the top, from its panoramic terrace, a panorama of the Comtat plain and Mont Ventoux awaits our eyes.

A rich agricultural land

Located in the middle of a rich and fertile plain, the commune of Perne-les-Fontaines is agricultural land par excellence. Its orchards produce apples, cherries, pears and almonds. Strawberries, melons and various vegetables are all delights and Perne has the biggest asparagus market in the region. The evening market takes place every Wednesday evening from early April to mid-October when local producers display their products on Place Frédéric Mistral for everyone’s happiness. And on Saturday mornings all year round, the Provençal market takes over Place Gabriel Moutte and Quai de Verdun along the Nesque. The life of Pernes-les-Fontaines is punctuated by many events organized at the Cultural Center of the Augustins or the Chapel of the White Penitents as well as in the old center of the village, according to its squares and unusual places: walks with lanterns, Pernes-les-Photos, the Melon Festival, Folklories, Pernes en Musique, the Font’arts Festival, the Crafts Fair, the Old Book Fair… and the great Heritage Festival, every 4 years, the opportunity for the village to live again as it was 150 years ago.