Ermitage Saint-Ferréol de Lorgues

Lorgues

To cure gout or a firearm wound, people used to climb to pray to Saint Ferréol on the hill of Lorgues. A staircase lined with a Way of the Cross still leads there. According to the association that watches over the place, the hill was an oppidum before being Christianised and becoming a hermitage. Relics of the saint arrived at the end of the Middle Ages, and the people of Lorgues made him their patron; the votive feast is held on 18 September. From 1609, the confraternity of churchwardens enlarged the chapel for pilgrims: the façade was completed in 1697 and the porch in 1733. Capuchins settled there in the mid-19th century and built annex buildings. In the chapel, ex-votos cover the walls; a large ex-voto dated 1785 occupies the back of the choir. The chapter house shelters a small museum of sacred art, created in 1990. In 1972 the building was badly dilapidated, and the association of the Amis de Saint-Ferréol began to save it.

Lorgues Patrimoine — Ermitage de Saint-Ferréol ↗

Getting there: On the colline Saint-Ferréol, in the communal forest of Lorgues. Reached by car (one-way traffic) or on foot by the staircase lined with the Way of the Cross. Chapel open on Thursdays in July and August from 10 am, and during the Heritage Days; otherwise, contact the association Amis de Saint-Ferréol et du Vieux Lorgues or the tourist office. Picnic area within the enclosure.

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

Ambient sound