3 Best Sights in Provence, France

Part museum, part cabinet of curiosities, this 14th-century mansion in the heart of Cavaillon, a medieval town 15 km (9 miles) west of Ménerbes, is an extraordinary repository. Its five floors contain architectural and archaeological artifacts (some found in an on-site dig), religious relics, ancient books and prints, tapestries, and musical instruments. In addition, a remarkable collection of art includes everything from masterpieces by Caravaggio and Artemesia Gentileschi to modern works by Victor Vasarely and Cy Twombly—each illustrating, in its own unique way, the story of this fascinating region. Even the garden is a wonder, harboring the remains of Hellenistic and Roman temples. Visits, by reservation only, can be made on the website.

Don your headphones and enter an immersive landscape of sound and light that, for 45 minutes, transforms the magnificent Théatre Antique d’Orange into a pageant of fantastical images, mythical characters, and deities from Roman myths.

This gargantuan building, the region's second largest historic monument after Avignon’s Palais des Papes, was built between 1750 and 1789 by Dom Malachie d’Inguimbert, Bishop of Carpentras, as a hospital to serve the sick and poor as well as to house physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. Indeed the pharmacy here is one of the last remaining originals in France (open on French Journées Européennes du Patrimoine in September).

Declared a historic monument in 1862, the building closed in 2002 and was restored between 2009 and 2024, reopening as a state-of-the-art library and museum, exhibiting a wealth of medieval texts, fine paintings, and 80,000 rare historic books and musical manuscripts. The exceptional collection tells the story of the Comtat Venaissin from prehistory to modern times. The building also houses a bookstore and a café opening onto a terrace with views of the Mont Ventoux. A large courtyard serves as an open-air cultural space for pop, classical, and jazz concerts.