Photos

This is the view looking down the hill from the city of Lacoste, Vaucluse.

Lacoste is a small, medieval town and commune in the Provence in Southern France. It belongs to the
Vaucluse département and has some 400 permanent residents, doubling in size during the height of summer tourist season.
Lacoste is a picturesque old mountain village overlooking the village of Bonnieux and the Grand Luberon Mountains to the east, and flanked by Mont Ventoux to the north, and the Petit Luberon to the south. The vernacular architecture and cobblestone streets give the impression of a village where time has stood still. The oldest building in the town, the Maison Forte, dates back to the 9th century while the nearby Pont Julien remains one of the oldest standing examples of a working 1st century B.C. Roman bridge.
Lacoste is best known for its most notorious resident, Donatien Alphonse Francois comte de Sade, the Marquis de Sade, who in the 18th century lived in the castle overlooking the village. Following a series of incidents involving local women and the police, the Marquis fled the country but was eventually imprisoned. His castle was partially destroyed in an uprising in 1779 and was later looted and plundered by locals.