Eglise Sainte Marthe du Bas Vernet

On the right bank of the Bès river extended a district called Le Villar. It was composed of three hamlets : Bas Villar, Haut Villar and Le Moulin.

The latter was already mentioned in a study in 1252. “Vilar”, a place where the lord had a land, was mentioned as well. This toponym refers to an Early Middle Ages settlement destroyed during the 11th century crisis. Peace was restored and the survivors left these settlements to found a new village : “Le Bas-Vernet”, which would become the main hamlet of the municipality. The parish church dedicated to Saint Martha, built in the middle of the 17th century, is located to the south of the village and has a cemetery.
According to the gospel, worship of Saint Martha, Mary Magdalene’s sister, was born after 1187 when, following the legend of the tarasque, a tomb containing bones attributed to her was discovered in Camargue. Ten years later, a church rose in Tarascon in her honour where her relics were kept and her worship spread, first in Provence, then in all christendom.