Culture and History
The medieval village of Vinezac has narrow, vaulted lanes lined with interlocking houses made of local sandstone in ochre tones with white accents. A sightseeing tour of the medieval village is available at the town hall and the grocery store. The former medieval centre was enclosed by a fortification wall that is now invisible; openings to the outside were created to enlarge the houses adjoining it.
Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation is part of the village’s history. The church was rebuilt in the Romanesque period from local sandstone and altered over time. It is one of the first listed monuments in the Ardèche département and was placed under protection in 1907. Its dome is decorated with an Italian-inspired painting from the late 18th or early 19th century; the four Evangelists are depicted at its base.
Château Julien was probably built at the end of the 12th century. A machicolation and a loophole have been preserved there as defensive elements. Scattered throughout the municipality of Vinezac are also dry-stone huts that served as shelters and storage rooms; in the region, they are called Capitelles or Capitels.
The poetic trail “Entre rimes et pierres” offers an approximately one-hour walk along which around ten Capitelles can be seen.
Landscape
Vinezac lies at the foot of the Parc naturel régional des monts d’Ardèche, where chestnut and beech forests give way to olive groves, vineyards and holm oaks. The village has Mediterranean features, with olive groves, fig orchards and vineyards producing AOP “Côte du Vivarais” wines.
Wine and Local Culture
Domaine du Père Léon was founded in 2016, is located in Vinezac and has five hectares of vineyards in production.
Mas de Bagnols farms its vineyards organically and harvests the grapes by hand. The estate invites visitors to come and see it, taste its wines and discuss its production methods.
Mas de Bagnols produces wines under the Côtes du Vivarais and Chatus designations; Chatus is an emblematic grape variety of the Cévenol Piedmont.
Hiking
The circular hike “Les hameaux de Vinezac” connects several hamlets in the municipality of Vinezac and leads from gentle cultivated hills to the pine forests at the foot of the Cévennes.
Those who choose Vinezac as their travel destination want to rent a holiday apartment there.
