Pernes les fontaines

Pernes-les-Fontaines also holds many other treasures along its little streets, which you can leisurely discover on foot or in a horse-drawn carriage with "Pernes à Cheval" or "Les Anes of Pernes" donkeys:
* the fortifications built in the Middle Ages are admirably intact with 3 towers still standing. The most spectacular is the Notre-Dame gate built in 1548, situated where the Nesque flows by the side of the ramparts. Towards the exterior, the gate extends into a bridge surmounted by the Notre-Dame-des-Grâces Chapel. The chapel, built in 1510, was for a long time a seat of the Masonic Lodge.
* the Clock Tower, a 12th century vestige of the castle of the Counts of Toulouse.  From the panoramic terrace at its top you have views over the Comtat plain and the Mont Ventoux.
* the Ferrande Tower and its beautifully preserved 13th century frescoes representing the conquest of Sicily by Charles of Anjou.
the covered market of Pernes-les-Fontaines built between 1622 and 1627. Transformed into barracks during the First World War, the building was then a cinema from the 1920s until its destruction in 1967. Today restored to its original state, it hosts temporary exhibitions and occasional markets, such as the truffle market in January.
* the small chapels and the Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth Church, a Romanesque church from the 11th century.

Pernes-les-Fontaines also has 14 private town mansions, some of which are listed as Historic Monuments:
* The house where Esprit Fléchier was born (17th century) houses a museum devoted to the traditions of the Comtat and works by this famous child of Pernes, one of the greatest orators of the 17th century.
* The Hôtel de Brancas houses the Comtadin Museum of Cycling, a homage to the creator of bicycle tourism, Paul de Vivie.
* The Hotel de Cheylus: the Jewish community, called “the Pope's Jews” because they were tolerated by the papacy, was also quite present in Pernes and the village has the particularity of possessing a ritual bath, called a "Mikvé", the only one in the Vaucluse. Situated in the cellar of the present-day Hôtel de Cheylus, the bath was probably built around 1504. It is still in operation.

Situated in the heart of a fertile plain, the commune of Perne-les-Fontaines is a farming region par excellence. Its orchards produce apples, cherries, pears and almonds. Its strawberries, melons and different vegetables are all delicious and Perne has the biggest asparagus market in the region.
The evening market takes place every Wednesday from early April to mid-October. On the Place Frédéric Mistral, local farmers sell their produce to satisfied customers. And throughout the year, the Provençal market takes over the Place Gabriel Moutte and the Quay de Verdun along the Nesque river.

Life in Pernes-les-Fontaines is patterned around the many events organized in the Augustins Cultural Centre or the White Penitents Chapel as well as in the old town centre, along its little squares and out-of-the-ordinary spots: the Lanterns Walk, Pernes-les-Photos, the melon festival, the Folklories, Pernes in Music, the Font’arts Festival, the traditional trades fair, the old book fair… and the big Heritage Festival every 4 years, the occasion for the village to once again live as it did 150 years ago.