Majastres

Overview

One of the least populated communes in France — five inhabitants at the 2023 census, making it the least populated in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur — on the isolated heights between the Verdon and the Asse. Vast expanses of nature and silence.

Hikes starting from Majastres

• Gorges de Trévans

Where to stay in Majastres

Hotels, campsites and gîtes in Majastres, 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

• gîte du Poil Furnished rental / gîte 4.6 (18 Google reviews) Business’s own website

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What to see, what to do

Parish church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Roche

The parish church of Majastres, dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-la-Roche, the main building of an almost deserted village and a witness to the religious life of a high-mountain community now reduced to a handful of souls.

Ruins of the chapel of Saint-Barnabé (Levens)

The remains of the former parish church of Saint-Barnabé of the vanished village of Levens, attached to Majastres in 1951. Levens, documented around 1200, had 27 hearths in 1301 and 169 inhabitants in 1765 before dying out; nothing survives of it but ruins.

Cross of Saint-Sauveur and war memorial

An old cross known as the cross of Saint-Sauveur and the First World War memorial, part of the small heritage of the commune.

Serre de Montdenier and the plateau

The relief of the Montdenier massif (the serre de Montdenier, 1,749 m, the emblematic summit of the commune; the land rises to about 1,860 m on the ridges, on the approaches to the Chiran) overlooking an area of heathland, forest and rocky knolls. The environment, very well preserved, is home to notable biodiversity (several hundred taxa recorded) and lies within the Verdon Regional Nature Park.

History of Majastres

Majastres is mentioned as early as 1040 in the form 'de terra Magastris'; the place name is thought to derive from Occitan roots that have sometimes been interpreted as 'village of better destiny'. The site has a troubled history: entirely abandoned around 1471, it was repopulated, then struck during the Wars of Religion (1574 and 1576), when Protestants and radical Catholics attacked and plundered the place in turn. The population peaked in the 18th century (276 inhabitants in 1765) before a continuous decline from the 19th century onwards. In 1951 the neighbouring commune of Levens, itself dying out, was attached to Majastres. The rural exodus has left the commune with no more than five inhabitants (2023 census), which makes it one of the least populated in France. Farming, once the only resource, has practically disappeared: only a few non-professional holdings remain, and second homes make up the bulk of the housing stock.

Getting to Majastres

• By road: Access by the RD 17 from Mézel in the north (over the Col de la Croix, 869 m) and from Rougon in the south; a long winding dead-end road, supplemented by forest tracks from Saint-Jurs and Blieux.