Carpentras and Pernes-les-Fontaines: The Oldest Working Synagogue in France and Forty Fountains
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Carpentras and Pernes-les-Fontaines: The Oldest Working Synagogue in France and Forty Fountains
225 + 100 XP
In 1367 the Jews of the Comtat Venaissin, sheltered by the popes, began to build the synagogue of Carpentras, the oldest synagogue still in use in France. Carpentras has held its market on Fridays since the Middle Ages. Six kilometres south, Pernes-les-Fontaines has 40 public fountains, eight of them historic monuments, which gave the town its name in 1936.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk the street outside the synagogue first and see how completely it hides — it was built to be invisible in the townscape, and the bishop who allowed it in 1367 capped it at 10 m long, 8 wide and 8 high. Then go in and find the first-floor prayer room as the works of 1774 to 1776 left it, the oven where the unleavened bread was baked, and the mikveh sunk ten metres down
2
of 5
Work the Friday morning market from the cathedral of Saint-Siffrein outwards — it has been held on Fridays since the Middle Ages, when it filled the churchyard itself with 200 travelling merchants and a bishop failed to shift it — as far as the place des Pénitents Noirs, which it reached in 1385. Come away with a bag of Carpentras berlingots, and between November and March look in on the truffle market held the same morning
3
of 5
Walk the streets of the old carrière around the synagogue, the quarter marked out in 1461 that held about five hundred people at the Renaissance and nearly a thousand by the Revolution, and work out how little ground that was. Then find the Roman arch of the 1st century beside the cathedral, and the Porte d'Orange, twenty-seven metres of 14th-century town gate still standing
4
of 5
Set out to find at least ten of the forty public fountains of Pernes on foot, starting with the eight that are listed monuments — the town once had around a hundred, and lost the rest because the spring could not feed them all, which is why it only took the name les Fontaines by decree on 18 March 1936. Look through gateways as you go: there are roughly twice as many private ones again
5
of 5
Walk through the porte Notre-Dame at Pernes, which in 1721 was the only gate of the town left open and was kept under heavy guard — the parish register recorded 122 deaths that year while other towns lost a quarter of their people — then find the chapel of Saint-Roch the townspeople restored in thanks, where the saint is still honoured on the Sunday after 15 August
Walk the street outside the synagogue first and see how completely it hides — it was built to be invisible in the townscape, and the bishop who allowed it in 1367 capped it at 10 m long, 8 wide and 8 high. Then go in and find the first-floor prayer room as the works of 1774 to 1776 left it, the oven where the unleavened bread was baked, and the mikveh sunk ten metres down
Work the Friday morning market from the cathedral of Saint-Siffrein outwards — it has been held on Fridays since the Middle Ages, when it filled the churchyard itself with 200 travelling merchants and a bishop failed to shift it — as far as the place des Pénitents Noirs, which it reached in 1385. Come away with a bag of Carpentras berlingots, and between November and March look in on the truffle market held the same morning
Walk the streets of the old carrière around the synagogue, the quarter marked out in 1461 that held about five hundred people at the Renaissance and nearly a thousand by the Revolution, and work out how little ground that was. Then find the Roman arch of the 1st century beside the cathedral, and the Porte d'Orange, twenty-seven metres of 14th-century town gate still standing
Set out to find at least ten of the forty public fountains of Pernes on foot, starting with the eight that are listed monuments — the town once had around a hundred, and lost the rest because the spring could not feed them all, which is why it only took the name les Fontaines by decree on 18 March 1936. Look through gateways as you go: there are roughly twice as many private ones again
Walk through the porte Notre-Dame at Pernes, which in 1721 was the only gate of the town left open and was kept under heavy guard — the parish register recorded 122 deaths that year while other towns lost a quarter of their people — then find the chapel of Saint-Roch the townspeople restored in thanks, where the saint is still honoured on the Sunday after 15 August
Before you go
The truffle market is held every Friday morning from November to March, and the town's truffle festival on the first Sunday of February. The foire de Saint-Siffrein falls on 27 November and has been held for close to five hundred years.
On market days Carpentras runs a free shuttle between the municipal campsite, which doubles as overflow parking, and the town centre — use it rather than trying to bring a motorhome into the market streets. The synagogue is a working place of worship owned by the Carpentras Jewish community association rather than the town, so it keeps its own visiting hours and closes for services; check before going, and expect a security check at the door.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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