OPPEDE-LE-VIEUX
When I was looking for a location to do a home base for 4 days, this cute little ghost town kept calling me to ( Pick Me). So I chose Oppede-le-Vieux, and I speak for the other 3 they felt the same way even though they thought I was crazy when we were trying to find it through a ankle twisting climb of a road. This off the beaten path and fixer upper of a village was completely abandoned in 1910 and has a ghost town-feel which only has 200 people. It's ideal if your looking to get lost in Provence with one Boutique and two cafes with one called the Petit Cafe which we ate twice at and with a dusty little square at the base of the village. The only sights are a Chateau with breath taking views over the Luberon and a Old Church built in 1588 and some beautiful old stone houses fixed up. We would definitely stay here again!!
Oppede- Le- Vieux is a magnificent little hill-top village. Built high on a rocky outcrop and- surrounded by lush vegetation, thick forests and rocks form a striking backdrop.
Today, Oppede-Le-Vieux remains largely abandoned, although fairly recently, several families moved back up the mountain, and little by little, parts of the ancient ghost town have returned to life. Exploring the narrow winding streets, leads to crumbled old stone houses, an ancient graveyard overlooking the vast valley below, and the ruins of a castle, left open to the sky.
Left abandoned to the elements, nature soon began to reclaim the old town. The castle roof fell in and the entrances to the medieval grottos buried into the mountain became covered in ivy.
After France fell to Germany in the summer of 1940, the haunting ghost town became the ideal hiding place for a group of artists. Calling themselves le Groupe d'Oppede, and led by architect Bernard Zehrfuss, the commune grew to around 50 painters, writers, and sculptors fleeing Nazi Oppression.
The small communnity prospered on the mountainside until 1942 when Germany moved to occupy all of France, and the artists fled their idyllic abandoned town.
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It was such a pleasure to wander around this village and admire the charming 15th and 16th century houses that have been skillfully restored..I would love to take a look inside them to see how they have been restored.
Numerous artists, writers and movie stars have been so charmed by the style and beauty of Oppede-Le -Vieux that many have bought property here, I can see how they fall in love with this beautiful and enchanting place.
Numerous artists, writers and movie stars have been so charmed by the style and beauty of Oppede-Le -Vieux that many have bought property here, I can see how they fall in love with this beautiful and enchanting place.
When you leave the square through the vaulted passageway and continue walking up the hill through the village and you will reach the attractive 12th century Collegial Church of Notre Dame d'Alidon, just a few minutes walk above the centre of the village. The Church bears witness to the historical importance of the location and was renovated in the 16th century which is why it is partly roman style and partly gothic style.
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