Saint-Sixte Church

A church that has known various names

It is in 1096 that we can see that the chapel was mentioned in a text, at that time it was known as the “Sainte-Marie church”, of Romanesque architecture. Then, in 1279, it took the name “Saint-Sauveur Church” which was the main place of worship until the 18th century.

The arrival of the Popes

It belonged to the Abbey of Cluny but, as soon as the Popes arrived in the Comtat Venaissin, the Clunisians were sidelined and no longer owned this religious building in 1322.

A gradual deterioration

Over the years, the condition of the church deteriorated, and this began in August 1562 when Protestant troops seized Pont-de-Sorgues (the old name of the city), inflicting great damage to the building.

In 1688, due to lack of maintenance, one of the vaults threatened to collapse and subsequently, the Saint-Sauveur church was definitively abandoned in 1766.

The Chapel of the White Penitents became the main place of worship until 1770, when the Plan de la Tour church (known as the Transfiguration Church) was built.

In the 19th century, the Saint-Sauveur church was used as a presbytery and was renamed Saint-Sixte church (or chapel). On October 28, 1949 the monument was registered as a Historic Monument.