Chapelle Notre-Dame de Beauvoir et l'étoile de Moustiers

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Clinging to the cliff above the rooftops of Moustiers, the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir is the goal of an ancient pilgrimage, at the end of a zigzag path cut between the two rock walls that enclose the village. To it is linked the famous star of Moustiers: a chain hung 135 metres up between the two cliffs carries a gilded star with sixteen points. The present version, put in place in 1995 and restored in gold leaf by the goldsmith Joël Joessel, measures about 1.25 metres and weighs some 150 kilos; at least eleven stars have succeeded one another since the Middle Ages. The best-known legend, given shape by Frédéric Mistral in 1885, attributes it to the knight Blacas d'Aups: captured by the Saracens during a crusade in the 12th century and unbending in his faith, he is said on his return to have hung above the sanctuary, as an ex-voto to the Virgin, a sixteen-rayed star borrowed from his coat of arms. Other tales speak of two young lovers from enemy families who threw themselves together from the cliffs, their reconciled relatives having had the star hung, or simply of the villagers' vow to place the village under the protection of Our Lady.

Getting there : Climb on foot from the village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie by the zigzag path that leads up towards the cliff; free access, good shoes advised.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound