Pézenas

Pézenas and the province of Languedoc was the favourite place to stay for Molière and his fellow actors...

Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, South of France

Pézenas - Town of Molière

Pézenas, "Ville d’art" – a town of arts and artistry in the heart of the Coteaux du Languedoc vineyards, is forever the town of Molière and – more recently – of Bobby Lapointe.

Pézenas can still dazzle us today with its wealth of history: magnificent stately homes, grand dwellings that have been carefully preserved since the 18th century, and streets that have been lovingly restored. Pézenas was the official seat of the governors of the province of Languedoc. It had its own market and has retained from those days of glory a particularly rich architectural heritage which, over the last thirty years or so, has become an inspiration to an ever-growing band of top-class practitioners of arts and crafts, in residence all year round.

The Pézenas area Arts and Crafts Centre (Maison des Métiers d'Art du Pays de Pézenas), located in the former Consuls’ Hall (a listed building) was set up to promote and support arts and crafts and, more particularly, skills to be found in the region.

In the Pézenas area visitors will find all they could wish for in a top-quality tourist holiday, full of life and history: outstanding architectural heritage, from the grand patrician dwellings of the middle ages to the imposing town houses of the 17th century, ‘circulades’ (villages built on a circular pattern for defence), medieval villages, footpaths for rambling or just strolling, marked-out mountain-bike circuits, equestrian activities, places to relax and wine-growing estates with their cool cellars, ideal for tasting some of the outstanding wines of this region. All year round, the Pézenas area is enlivened by craft shops, antique shops, sellers of curios, concerts, theatre performances and exhibitions.

Vulliod-Saint-Germain Museum

The museum was opened in 1942 after the house which now houses it (dating from the 16th century) was donated. It offers collections of furnishings, pottery and a remarkable sequence of Aubusson tapestries which relate the history of Alexander the Great. Not forgetting local links with Molière, keys, locks, weights bearing the coat of arms of Pézenas, certificates of Compagnons…(members of local confraternities).

Molière in Pézenas

For 10 years from 1647 to 1657, the province of Languedoc was the favourite place to stay for Molière and his fellow actors. From Toulouse to Nîmes, passing through Albi, Carcassonne, Béziers, Pézenas and Montpellier, they performed comedies on the stages of theatres and real tennis courts, under the protection of the États, the provincial parliament, and of Armand de Bourbon, Prince de Conti.

Pézenas has a whole host of places with connections to Molière: the Hôtel d’Alphonse, where Molière and his company played "Le Médecin Volant" (The Flying Doctor) before My lords the Etats, the Jeu de Paume where it was performed for the townspeople, and above all, the celebrated Gely barber’s shop which houses Molière’s favourite chair.

Emblematic animals: an age-old tradition or a recent invention?

The legend of Pézenas and its Colt is said to go back to the middle ages. Legend has it that the Colt was a present to the town from Louis VIII when he arrived there on his way to the crusades.

The story goes that the King was unable to ride his favourite mare, which had fallen ill. The animal was saved by two of Pézenas’s consuls; not only that, but it gave birth to a colt (un poulain). In gratitude the King gave to the town a wooden colt that the population could display at all its festivals as a symbol of their friendship with this new regime that had just taken over Languedoc.

 Ever since, on each Shrove Tuesday, the inhabitants of Pézenas commemorate this event and organise the Poulain procession. This is how they begin the town’s carnival and other street events, to the sound of fifes, drums and oboes.

The "Petits Patés" of Pézenas

The “petit paté de Pézenas", a “salty and sweet” delicacy, shaped like a cotton-reel, was brought here by Clive of India’s cooks when, as Viceroy of India, he was on furlough in the town. It is eaten hot at the beginning of a meal with the accompaniment of a white wine, dry (such as Picpoul de Pinet) or sweet (for example, a Muscat from Saint-Jean-de-Minervois or a Rancio). You can find them in all the town’s pâtisseries.

INFORMATION
Tourist Office - 1, Place Gambetta - 34120 Pézenas - Tel: + 33 (0)4 67 98 36 40 Website

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Campings in Pézenas