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Origin and history

Saint Vincent Church, located in Les Baux-de-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône, is a Romanesque building built between the 12th and 16th centuries. It is dedicated to Vincent de Zaragoza, a Spanish saint of the third century, martyr to anti-Christian persecution at the beginning of the fourth century. The church, classified as a historic monument in 1886, became a parish in 1481 after the abandonment of the former Saint-André church located in the Vallon de la Fontaine.

The building, partially carved into the rock, has an almost square structure with three naves. A span was added in 1609, and restorations carried out in 1862 by Henri Révoil revealed an ossuary under a demolished chapel. To the left of the building, a circular tower called the "Lantern of the Dead" was used to light a flame at the time of death.

Inside, the left nave houses a 1906 cenotaph dedicated to the Manville family, whose chapel was erected around 1540. The right nave preserves two baptismal vats, one cut in the rock, while the central nave, twelve metres high, exhibits a medieval tombstone dated 1467. The stained glass windows, offered by Prince Rainier of Monaco, are the work of master glassmaker Max Ingrand.

The excavations revealed remains, including a body holding a book of piety, which was reduced to dust during its handling, and that of a young girl with blond hair, nicknamed Cabeladuro d'Or, which is now preserved at the Arlaten Museum in Arles. An inscription attributed to Frédéric Mistral, FRIC. MISTRAL, appears on a column near the portal.

The church is linked to Provencal culture, especially through the work of Mistral, who inspired it for his poem Mirèio. Its architecture combines novel elements with local traditions, such as the lantern of the dead, symbol of medieval funeral rites.

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