Veritable masterpiece of Provençal Romanesque art, the Saint Paul monastery, built in the neighbourhood of the Gallo-Roman site of Glanum owes its name Mausolé to the proximity of the mausoleum of the "Julii"; it rises up out of the landscape thanks to its beautiful two-storey square steeple topped by a pyramidal roof.
The covered walk goes around a finely maintained garden giving the stones all their grandeur.
Saint Paul de Mausole remains today a psychiatric health institution.
The tour of the parts open to the public is subject to the respect of the tranquility of the place. In the former chapter houses and the Romanesque stairwell, you can see a permanent exhibition of works for sale, made by the patients at the art therapy studio Valetudo.
From the top of the stairs you can see the wheat field that Vincent Van Gogh contemplated and painted during his year of confinement in the men's pavilion.
Upstairs, a room recounts the history of the Saint Paul Mental Hospital.
Continuing to the right, you will find a reproduction of the room where Van Gogh was confined.
Across from it, another room explains psychiatry in the 19th century.
Romanesque cloister of Saint-Paul de Mausolé in Saint Rémy de Provence
The cloisters with arcades of twinned columns
Statue of Vincent Van Gogh in the Monastery's garden
Reconstitution of Van Gogh's bedroom in the Monastery
Exhibition on the conditions of life in the 19th century
Façade of the Monastery's church
Galleries in the cloister
Flowering garden in the Romanesque cloisters
History of Saint Paul de Mausole Monastery
In the Gallo-Roman era, a natural spring drew to Saint-Rémy de Provence pilgrims coming to call upon Valetudo, the goddess of health. In the 11th century, the Christians built, near the spring, a priory, a veritable gem of Provençal Romansque art.
Marvelously preserved, it adjoins the Saint Paul de Mausole mental hospital where Vincent Van Gogh was taken in after the episode in which he cut off his ear.
Near his room, by the cloister's walk, an art therapy workshop has been created by the association Valetudo which brings together art, research and treatment.
Amazing results : on the canvasses appear moving works, sometimes very expressive, often poetic, recounting the inner journey of patients who have found in it a complementary means of expression of, and relief from, their suffering.
Stay of Van Gogh in Saint Paul de Mausole Monastery
Vincent Van Gogh arrived on May 8, 1889 in Saint-Rémy de Provence, coming from Arles, to be "confined" by his wishes in the Saint-Paul de Mausolée Asylum.
Fascinated by the quality of the light and the beauty of the landscapes that he discovered in Saint-Rémy, very inspired, happy and relieved to find a serene and understanding atmosphere amongst the nuns and nurses who received him, he carried out 143 oil paintings and more than 100 drawings in the space of 53 weeks. This time in Saint Rémy is considered a major period in the works of Van Gogh.
The paintings, amongst the most well-known :
"The Irises",
"Starry Night",
"Olive Orchard ",
"Wheat field with Cypress",
"The First Steps",
"Wheat field with a reaper",
"La sieste",
"The Roadmenders",
"Garden in the St-Paul hospice",
"Vase with Iris",
"Vincent's Room in Arles", etc.
Monastère Saint Paul de Mausole en Provence - Route des Baux - 13210 Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
+ 33 (0)4 90 92 77 00
http://www.saintpauldemausole.frWhere to sleep?
