Venasque (; oc, Venasca; la, Vindasca) is a
commune in the
Vaucluse department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern
France.
The area has many tourist attractions, such as the nearby Mount Vaucluse, a park with several tennis courts, and many open areas. The town of Venasque stands on a hill, surrounded on all sides by ramparts in various states of disrepair. It is home to many notable foreigners, such as
Darius Brubeck
Darius Brubeck (born June 14, 1947) is an American jazz keyboardist and educator. He is the son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck. He spent many years in Durban, South Africa, as a professor and head of the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at the Unive ...
. It has a beautiful forest surrounding it, with picturesque trails and several shepherds' dwellings made out of rocks piled together to create domed huts.
History
In the high middle ages Venasque was the capital of the
Comtat Venaissin, which became a possession of the
Holy See in 1271. In 1320 Venasque was replaced as capital of the Comtat by
Carpentras. Papal control of the Comtat continued until the 1790s, when it was annexed by France and placed within a new ''département'' of the
Vaucluse, although the papacy did not recognise the annexation until 1814.
See also
*
Comtat Venaissin
*
Communes of the Vaucluse department
*
Port de Venasque
The Port de Venasque () is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees. It lies on the border between France and Spain and is a popular border crossing point for mountaineers and walkers. It can be reached in about two to three hours from the Hospice de France ...
, a mountain pass in the Pyrenees
References
External links
Town council website
Communes of Vaucluse
Plus Beaux Villages de France
{{Vaucluse-geo-stub
