Sivergues and its history

The picturesque village of Sivergues is at the end of the tarmac road, 11km from Apt.. It is 1000m above sea level and has only 41 inhabitants, whose houses are scattered around the area At the far extremity of the canton of Bonnieux, the territory of Sivergues lived for several centuries bound together by its ‘Vaudois’ religious convictions.

The Ayguebrun river runs through the ‘commune’, which is essentially made up of woods and scrub land, and given over to the cultivation of lavender and goat herding. It is situated a bit further along from the plateau of the Claparèdes, which encompasses the mountains of the Luberon between Bonnieux and Buoux.

The first habitation was a convent, founded in the 5C by the wife of the first bishop of Apt, Castor, and aided by her six companions, the six virgins. But the real hamlet was started at the dawn of the 16C when seven ‘Vaudois’ families were summoned by the local lord to cultivate the abandoned land. Until the last century, the community remained essentially Protestant.

Although it seems to live on the margins of civilisation, Sivergues has a particular atmosphere, which doesn’t escape lovers of nature. They will not regret this detour to a place which was so wonderfully described by the Provençal writer Henri Bosco.

To see

· The Castellas, with the ruins of the church Ste Trophime (12C) and the Vaudois cemetery
· Old tombstones at Cros and the Domaine de Paris
· In the village, the church (16C) and some other fine houses of the same period

 

Renseignements : Office de tourisme intercommunal du Canton de Bonnieux - 7, Place Carnot - 84480 Bonnieux - Tél. 04 90 75 91 90 - otibonnieux@wanadoo.fr

Mairie de Sivergues : 04 90 74 03 92