A little history: Who are they? In the twelfth century, Peter Waldo, a rich Lyon outraged by enriching the clergy, creates the Waldensian movement. He made a vow of poverty and hits the road spreading the word, hoping to return to a purer church. Why are they living here? In the fifteenth century most of the villages of the Luberon are ruined by war, looting, famine and plague. Aware of the shortfall, the Lords South Luberon seek to repopulate the region with strong and honest workers. The Vaudois people will therefore settle in our villages and provide the labor necessary for their reconstruction. Why have they fled? Their way of life will eventually attract attention, the Catholic Church does not tolerate at the time no other form of religion. Condemned for heresy and persecuted, many will be killed while others flee to settle abroad. Your trip: Discover Protestants Temples villages Cabrières d'Aigues, La Motte d'Aigues and Peypin d'Aigues. Commemorative and explanatory plates were sealed in stone and invites you to share the moving story of the people. A Cabrières d'Aigues, in honor of the people, the tasting room of the Vaudois Winery offers an amazing surprise: the troglodyte cave. A little further Mérindol Visit the memorial and the center of evocation and documentation: The Muse. You will find: signs that represent the origin of the Waldensian movement, its expansion in Europe and its implementation in the Luberon. More information permanent exhibition on Waldensianism, religious persecution and massacre of 1545. 04 90 72 91 64 or http://etudesvaudoises.voila.net/ Walk in Mérindol idea: Go to Castrum-Old village by Draille Old Mérindol or path Benezet (15 minutes walk from the Tourist Office).Castrum-old village is included in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments as a place of memory. At the top are installed a Waldensian Memorial, which evokes the persecution of Vaudois were victims in the sixteenth century, and a viewpoint that offers an exceptional view of the Alpilles, the Sainte Baume, Sainte Victoire. Until 1992, no one knew all buildings having occupied the rocky outcrop overlooking the present village. Two remained elevated walls, one north and one south, were the only known remains. According to archaeological excavations conducted in 1992 and 1993, two new operations were conducted survey. Thus we find: a dense, the chapel, dungeon, boundary walls and access structures. The excavations have revealed an important furniture: Shards of pottery, coins, metal objects, you can partially observe the Tourist Office.
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