Typically Provençal, Montauroux is a very old village built in the 11th century, in terraces rising between 100 and 400 meters.
It is one of nine perched sites in the Pays de Fayence, in the far east of the Var department.
Arriving at the foot of the village, you pass a large, traditional wash-house on which the central square is built.
To explore the village, take one of the narrow streets lined with pretty, colorful houses and punctuated by small squares, fountains and a few shops and cafés.
These narrow streets all lead up to the top of the village and the parish church of Saint-Barthélemy, with its square bell tower topped by a wrought-iron campanile.
This 12th-century church was enlarged and remodeled in the 17th and 18th centuries. Inside, numerous objects and paintings were listed as historic monuments in 1984 and 1993.
A chapel owned by Christian Dior
But the real jewel of Montauroux is the Chapelle Saint-Barthélemy. Built around 1630 by the Pénitents Blancs with stones from a fortress that no longer exists. It was listed as a historic monument in 1958, thanks to the painted wooden panels covering the walls and ceiling, and the barrel vault is entirely covered in painted wooden panels.
Behind the altar, a huge painting of Saint Bartholomew and the Annunciation to the Virgin is surrounded by a painted wooden altarpiece dating from 1748.
Previously owned by Christian Dior, the chapel was bequeathed to the commune in 1953 and restored in 1994.
Christian Dior lived in the magnificent 19th-century Château de la Colle Noire, overlooking the Montauroux plain.
In 1931, Montauroux separated from part of its territory, creating the commune of Les Adrets de l'Estérel.
Behind the chapel is a small cemetery and a viewpoint from which you can see the neighboring village of Callian.
Also worth a visit in Montauroux are the fountains and wash-houses, whose history is intertwined with that of the village itself, and the remains of the aqueduct known as the Canal de la Fontaine, built in the late Middle Ages to bring water from the Mailla spring to the nearest public fountain.
To the south-east of Montauroux, classified as a “Station Verte de Vacances”, lies Lac Saint-Cassien, with its small beaches surrounded by hills. One arm of the lake is home to the Fondurane biological ornithological reserve, a protected ecosystem and a paradise for migratory birds and aquatic fauna.
Tourist Office
Place du Clos,
83440 Montauroux
Tel.: 04 94 47 75 90
https://www.paysdefayence.com/
