The Saint-Laurent church

The parish church of Nans-les-Pins, dedicated to Saint Sebastian and Saint Lawrence, occupies the centre of the town that grew in the plain after the hilltop village was abandoned. The Grand-Rue passes its porch on the way up to the Miséricorde chapel; the cours Général-de-Gaulle, where the market is held, stretches just below.

The bell

Its most precious possession is a bronze bell cast in 1670, tuned to D sharp, listed as a historic monument in 1992. It rings from a wrought-iron bell cage, a familiar silhouette in Provençal villages, which lets the wind through rather than resisting it.

Saint Lawrence, patron of the village

The votive festival of Nans bears the name of the patron saint, together with Saint Eligius: every year in early August, processions, the blessing of the Saint-Laurent fire on the church square and dances liven up the village for nearly a week.