Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt, Provence, France
Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt is located on a hillside north of Apt and east of Roussillon, near Le Colorado Provençal ochre site. It has very interesting old buildings and provides a large selection of restaurants, cafes and local shops. One the top of the hill there are ruins of a castle, as well as a mini-lake with water with an interesting color.
Parking in Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt
To get to the village use the D943 road. Near the old town you have two parking lots: one bigger (P1; GPS: 43.942436, 5.383964), and the other one, a little bit smaller (P2; GPS: 43.943537, 5.384405). A little farther, on the Chemin de la Bruyère street, there are also two parking lots (P3; GPS: 43.941459, 5.382340 and P4; GPS: 43.941164, 5.381898). All parking lots are free!
Touring the village
The Place Gambetta square (A; GPS: 43.943241, 5.383397) is a center of the town. In the days of local market it is occupied by stalls with various goods - we just had a lucky day and hit on this market. One can stroll the streets admiring interesting facades of houses. On the way we see the church of Saint-Étienne from 1860. The village has also an old windmill, nicely renovated (B; GPS: 43.942696, 5.381385).
Visiting the ruins of the castle
On the left side of the church (looking from its front door) leads narrow, slightly rising path (C; GPS: 43.944275, 5.383507). We go this path that after several meters turns 90 degrees to the left. On the wall of the building you can see a sign indicating that you should use this direction to get to the castle. The path leads up the hill and after about 100 meters we are already at the entrance gate to the castle ruins. Once inside it is still not easy - you have to climb a little more to get to the top of the hill. At the castle there is a mini-lake (D; GPS: 43.944959, 5.383153) and a dam (E; GPS: 43.944663, 5.383060), which was built in eighteenth century to provide a water to inhabitants of Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt. The water in the lake has very nice green color. It is also worth to go to the chapel (F; GPS: 43.946631, 5.384944) located at the end of the hill of elongated shape. We have then the possibility of getting beautiful views of the town and surrounding area.
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