A stone building on the edge of the Étang Salé, a former salt pond of the Princes of Orange that is now a protected wetland. Its owners describe it as a house of the early sixteenth century that became a priory of the seminary of Avignon; today it is where the wines of L’Oratoire des Papes, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape label of 1926, are made and aged. The building is not a listed monument, and most of its history rests on the owners’ account.
At a glance
The Étang Salé of Courthézon is a natural hollow that belonged to the Princes of Orange in the Middle Ages and was worked for salt, then drained and farmed in the nineteenth century. The conservation body that manages it today records that the site contains the Prieuré of the Clos de l’Oratoire des Papes, run by the Maison Ogier. According to the estate, the building goes back to the early sixteenth century, passed to the King of France in 1736, served the seminary of Avignon as a priory, and became public property after 1905. The national land records, for their part, describe it as a two-storey stone building and give 1875 as its year of construction. We have not found a document that reconciles the two, nor an architect or a date carved on the building.
Key facts
- Where: Étang Salé, route de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (D92), 84350 Courthézon, Vaucluse
- Origin: early sixteenth century, under the Princes of Orange, according to the estate; not confirmed independently
- Land records: stone building of two levels, year of construction 1875 (national building database, from the tax land files)
- Former use: a priory of the seminary of Avignon, according to the estate
- Restoration: 2014–2016, according to the estate
- Protection: none for the building. Not a listed historic monument; the Étang Salé around it is an Espace naturel sensible, a protected natural area
- Current use: vinification and ageing cellars of L’Oratoire des Papes (Maison Ogier), visits by reservation
- Coordinates: 44.071681, 4.864044 · open in Google Maps
History
The Étang Salé is a natural depression fed only by rain and runoff, lying between Courthézon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Conservatoire d’espaces naturels of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur records that it belonged to the Princes of Orange in the Middle Ages and was first worked for its salt. The extraction did not last: the town’s leaflet dates its end to 1805, after which the pond was drained and put under cultivation. In 2001 the main drainage gallery collapsed by accident, the water came back, and the wetland was left to recover; the Conservatoire has managed it since 2003, and the site was the first in Vaucluse to be labelled a protected natural area.
The history of the building itself comes from the estate. It states that the house goes back to the time of the Princes of Orange, at the beginning of the sixteenth century; that in 1736 King Louis XV took over the pond and its outbuildings; that the grand seminary of Avignon then made it a residence and a priory for its members, who also worked as winegrowers; and that with the law separating Church and State in 1905 the domain became the property of the département. We have not found these steps in a source independent of the estate. The national building database, compiled from the tax land files, gives the stone building a construction year of 1875, which may date a rebuilding or may simply be the year recorded by the tax office.
The wine came to the building later. According to the estate, Édouard Amouroux inherited a vineyard plot in 1880, and on 30 July 1926 his son Léonce founded the Clos de l’Oratoire des Papes, under the protection of an oratory dedicated to Saint Mark, patron of winegrowers; its label, in an Art Deco style, has not changed since. The brand now belongs to the Maison Ogier, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine house founded in 1859. Between 2014 and 2016 the priory was restored and fitted out for making and ageing the wines.
What you see
We have not found a free photograph of the priory, nor an inventory description of it, so we cannot describe its architecture here. The land records describe the main building as a two-storey building with stone walls. According to the estate, the interior now holds three vinification cellars with vats of different kinds and amphoras. Around it, the Étang Salé is a temporary wetland of about 21 hectares, with reed beds and meadows.
Practical information
- The priory is a working winery. The Vaucluse tourist office lists guided visits of the cellars, with a tasting, from Monday to Saturday by reservation only; they last about two hours.
- The Étang Salé next to it is a protected natural area open to the public all year, with a surfaced path around the pond.
- The building has no heritage protection; what is described here is its history as recorded so far.
Getting there
The priory stands on the D92, the road from Courthézon to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, about two kilometres south-west of the centre of Courthézon and three kilometres north-east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is best reached by car or bicycle.
Nearby
- The Étang Salé of Courthézon, the protected wetland around the priory.
- The old centre of Courthézon, with its ramparts, belfry and the Château de Val-Seille, now the town hall, all listed historic monuments.
- Roman Theatre of Orange and the Triumphal Arch of Orange, about 8 and 9 kilometres to the north.
- The Palace of the Popes in Avignon, about 14 kilometres to the south.
Do you know more?
On this page we have published what we could verify about the Étang Salé and what the estate records about the priory. We could not find an independent document for the building’s history: the estate dates it to the early sixteenth century, the land records to 1875, and we have no source for its years as a priory of the seminary of Avignon or for its sale after 1905. We also have no photograph of the building we are free to publish. If you know something — a deed, a map, a document from the seminary or the département, an old photograph or postcard of the priory — or if you can send us a photograph of it, write to Sofia, who looks after these pages.
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Please start your message with the title of this page, so it reaches the right file. Every contribution is checked against independent sources before it goes on the page, and we always say where a piece of information came from.
Sources
- Conservatoire d’espaces naturels de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Étang Salé de Courthézon: property of the Princes of Orange in the Middle Ages, salt, cultivation after drainage in the nineteenth century, the collapse of the drainage gallery in 2001, management since 2003, 21 hectares, and the presence of the Prieuré of the Clos de l’Oratoire des Papes run by the Maison Ogier.
- Mairie de Courthézon, leaflet L’Étang salé de Courthézon (hosted by the Communauté de communes du Pays Réuni d’Orange): a natural depression fed only by rain and runoff; salt extraction over a short period, ended in 1805; drainage and cultivation; farming abandoned for several decades; reed beds and meadows; the site open to the public all year, with a surfaced path.
- Ville de Courthézon, L’Étang salé: the first site labelled Espace naturel sensible in Vaucluse.
- Wikipedia (fr), Courthézon: a pond of 20 hectares drained from 1805; and Liste des monuments historiques de Vaucluse, from the Mérimée database: the listed monuments of Courthézon (belfry, Château de Val-Seille, church of Saint-Denis, fontaine Bellecroix, ramparts); the priory is not among them.
- Base de données nationale des bâtiments (BDNB), from the DGFiP land files: building at 2389 route de Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthézon, stone walls, two levels, year of construction 1875 (building identified in the national building register as RNB N14MXN9WPBB4).
- L’Oratoire des Papes, Le Prieuré, official site: the estate’s account of the sixteenth-century origin, 1736, the seminary of Avignon, 1905, the renovation from 2014 and the cellars; and Héritage: 1880, 30 July 1926, the oratory of Saint Mark, the label, the restoration of 2014–2016.
- Maison Ogier, official site: the house founded in 1859, based in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
- Vaucluse tourist board (provenceguide.com), Visite immersive au Prieuré des Papes: address on the D92, visits from Monday to Saturday by reservation, about two hours.
- OpenStreetMap / Nominatim: position, returned as Prieuré de l’Oratoire des Papes, Courthézon.
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