The old town Village Medieval of Les Arcs is very interesting and picturesque, and the village is worth a visit just for that. Vaulted passages, stone walls, ancient houses, medieval doorways, carved wooden doors and the remains of the castle are there for you to discover. The streets of the old town is rising up to the site of the 11th-century chateau-fort and “Saracen tower” at the top, which is now hosting a hotel and a Michelin recommended restaurant.
Online Map
If a majority of Les Archs today has the look and feel of a modern city, pass through the Clock tower gateway and you will discover a medieval environment with its mixture of cobbeled, steep streets and old stone buildings. Here is an online map we have created where we have marked all the beautiful streets of the old town with red colours. You will also find a convenient parking area, and some of the sights and recommended resturants and cafes marked in this map:
Ancient history
The old town was double-walled for defence, especially against the Saracen invasions. The round, fortified clock-tower is topped by an interesting 17th-century campanile. The clock tower and its nice Bell Tower is dated from 1662, and was created by the master locksmith Louis Tourtonne.
The area between the “Saracen” tower (XIth century dungeon) and Paul Simon square, called the “Parage”, is the oldest in the medieval town. Here you can see tower, XIth century dungeon, remains of the ancient Arcubus Castrum and the St Pierre chapel from the XIIIth – XVth centuries, with its two naves and side chapels (exhibition spaces in summer).The Saint Peter chapel (12th century) is a fine example of Romanesque architecture. It is now used during the summer period as exhibition hall.
In the Castle you will find the door of Miracles, the guard room and a beautiful Dungeon square with a height of 19 meters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu5QrLkdEtg
The doors of Les Arcs
When walking through the old town, pay attantion to all the ancient doorways and interesting old doors. There are many of them, one prettier than the other. How many can you spot?
Eglise St-Jean-Baptiste
The town church is well worth a visit. It contains a animated spectacle which is an anicient tradition in Provence called a ‘crèche provençale’ with ‘santons’ – small model of the saints of ProvenceIf you donate an Euro, the town comes alive.
Restaurants and Cafes
Is it convenient to combine a visit to the medieval old town with with lunch or dinner (depending on when you are visiting) down at the town square or close to the city centre.
Practically located at the town square you will find the nice Resturant La Terrasse.
There is also a Creperie with good reviews named Pires Marie Chr
You can find more information about Arcs-sur-Argens in this external we page here.
A Winters visit to Les-Arcs-sur-Argens
The village is also beautiful to visit during winter – here is a report and pictures from our visit in early 2016
Villa Soleil 