A picturesque hilltop village, Saint-Auban-sur-Ouvèze is still home to medieval reminders of its time as a military 7 stronghold. A fief belonging to the Montauban family, in the fourteenth century it passed under the control of the Adhémars, who drew up a charter of freedom for the village. The neighbouring hill is covered in chestnut trees, thriving in the area’s extremely silica-rich soil, an unexplained geological mystery. What to see and visit: the village’s church (1870); castle ruins; swan neck fountain; narrow, cobbled streets; soustet passageway; country park above the village.