Coaraze
Member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
A blue lizard with a broken tail sits on Coaraze's coat of arms, a nod to the Occitan reading of its name as 'shaved tail'. At 667 metres, the village crowns a sandstone peak above the Paillon de Contes, with olive terraces below and vaulted passages within. In 1960 the mayor asked artists, Jean Cocteau among them, to make sundials that now adorn the town hall, church square and school.
Highlights
- Sundials by artists, including Jean Cocteau's 'Les Lézards'
- The Chapelle Bleue, painted in shades of blue by Ponce de León
- Chapelle Saint-Sébastien, a plague chapel with 16th-century frescoes of the saint
- A four-hour walk to the ghost village of Rocca-Sparviera
- Sunday-morning market of seasonal fruit and vegetables
Text adapted from Wikipedia (Coaraze (FR), Coaraze (EN), Coaraze (IT)), Wikivoyage (Coaraze). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 827
Things to see
Events through the year
- Nuits de Coartjazz
- Rencontres Chorales de l'Olivier
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Translated and adapted from open data: Panorama des festivals, Ministère de la Culture, updated 2025-08-27 (Licence Ouverte 2.0).
Specialities of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Caviar d'ArlesLocal produce
- Truffle of VaucluseLocal produce
- Snails with aïoliDishSnails fasted then simmered with fennel and wild mint, eaten with aïoli
Adapted from Wikipedia (Cuisine provençale). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
3 places to stay within 3 km
- B&Bs and guest houses 1
- Hostels 1
- Campsites 1
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Thermal baths nearby
- Thermal spa: Thermes de Berthemont · ~57 min by car
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Sainte-Agnès · 16 km
- Saorge · 25 km
- Apricale · 29 km
- Gourdon · 30 km
- Perinaldo · 30 km