Ginasservis

Overview

An agricultural market town in the north-west of the Var, between Vinon and Rians, next to the Cadarache site.

A commune in the Var (83), arrondissement of Brignoles, canton of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, part of the Communauté de communes Provence Verdon and a member of the Parc naturel régional du Verdon. Postal code 83560. Administratively attached to the Provence Verte side of the area, it reaches the Verdon through its tributary streams and the old Canal du Verdon; it does not belong to the Basses Gorges in the strict sense.

Where to stay in Ginasservis

Hotels, campsites and gîtes in Ginasservis, with their real rating when available.

Listings marked “Ad” (LiveVerdon plan) or “Recommended by the publisher” are ranked ahead of the others: plans first, then the publisher’s clients, then addresses recommended with no commercial link. How listings are ranked

• Camping de Ginasservis Campsite 4.3 (182 Google reviews) Business’s own website
• L'Hôtel du Bastier Hotel To be confirmed

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Services & shops in Ginasservis

Fuel: 1 petrol station in the commune. See live prices →

What to see, what to do

Parish church of Saint-Laurent

A church rebuilt in the 17th century (works 1626–1650, consecrated on 14 September 1651), on a Latin-cross plan, in pink limestone rubble stone, with a nave carrying rib vaults on basket-handle transverse arches and a bell tower topped by a wrought-iron campanile; a gallery was added in 1858. It succeeds an older church, near the castle, devastated by the Protestants in 1586. Local tradition speaks of a nave of Romanesque origin, but the scholarly documentation of the Inventaire général dates it entirely to the 17th century.

Chapel of the Penitents (known as the chapel of the Annunciation)

A 14th-century chapel, registered as a Monument historique by decree of 19 October 1927 (Mérimée ref. PA00081630), owned by the commune, located near the cemetery. Its doorway is surmounted by a shield bearing the village's coat of arms.

Chapel of Saint-Damase (formerly Saint-Dalmas)

A sanctuary attested as early as 1092 under the dedication of Saint Dalmas, Frenchified in the 17th century into Saint Damase; no trace of the medieval building survives. The present chapel was rebuilt by public subscription in 1879, then restored in the late 20th and early 21st centuries (by local associations). It has an elongated plan with a rounded choir and a pointed barrel vault, standing on a hill east of the village, with a view over Valavès.

Remains of the castle (a former Hospitaller commandery)

A fortified castle built around 1240 by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, the residence of the commanders, rebuilt in the 17th century as a simple seigneurial dwelling and then demolished during the Revolution. The village wraps around the remains; ruins and the entrance porch in particular survive, visible from the cemetery hill. The commune's coat of arms (a Maltese cross) recalls the five centuries of possession by the Order.

The Plan fountain

A fountain built in 1765, fed by a network of around 700 metres of pipework.

Bories

Dry-stone huts scattered across the clearings and hills, witnesses to the traditional agro-pastoral way of life.

Oppidum of Montmajor

The site of a fortified Gaulish oppidum on the summit of Montmajor, a witness to the protohistoric occupation of the plateau; a Gallo-Roman presence is attested (tiles, ceramics). Roman-era estates are also known in the districts of Saint-Antoine and la Foux.

History of Ginasservis

The origin of the name is debated: one reading sees the Latin genista (broom, the shrub) combined with silva (forest), i.e. 'the broom forest'; another links the old forms Ginacervis / Ginacervias to a stag hunt by the counts of Provence, echoing the local coat of arms. The plateau was occupied from protohistoric times (the oppidum of Montmajor) and then in the Roman era (the estates of Saint-Antoine and la Foux). Around 970, the monks of Saint-Victor of Marseille founded a priory at la Foux; a lord is mentioned as early as 1031. From around 1240 until the Revolution, the territory belonged to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (the Hospitallers, the future Order of Malta): the commander of Aix was its temporal and spiritual lord. An agreement on the meadows and canals of the Valavès plain was concluded in 1308, the first land register drawn up in 1484, and a milling right attested in 1554. The village suffered during the Wars of Religion (the church devastated in 1586, the stronghold contested in 1591 between the troops of the Duke of Savoy and those of Henri IV). Its coat of arms — a silver Maltese cross on a red field — keeps alive the memory of the Hospitallers. The old economy rested on transhumance, the exploitation of the holm oak (the 'rusco', used for charcoal and tanning) and wine-growing. The village is also known as the setting of 'Quatre Saisons d'Espigoule' (1999), a film by Christian Philibert shot with its inhabitants, Espigoule being the fictional name given to Ginasservis.

Getting to Ginasservis

• By road: Mainly by the RD 3; close to the A51 motorway (Aix-Manosque road).
• Public transport: Zou! regional network: line 810 (Manosque - Vinon-sur-Verdon - Ginasservis - La Verdière) and line 814 (Saint-Maximin - Rians - Ginasservis - Saint-Julien).
• About 7 km from Saint-Julien, 8 km from Vinon-sur-Verdon, 17 km from Saint-Paul-lès-Durance (Cadarache); Aix-en-Provence is about fifty kilometres away.

Events & highlights

Patronal feast of Saint-Laurent — Around 10 August

The festival of the village's patron saint.

The 'Espigoule' gathering — Occasional

The village keeps alive the memory of the film 'Les Quatre Saisons d'Espigoule'; a large gathering once brought together several thousand visitors for the tenth anniversary of the feature film.