In 1934 Jacques Daurelle published what is still today one of the most important books about the history and heritage of Vence. Titled Vence et Ses Monuments (Vence and Its Monuments) this over-sized book covered everything from the fountains to the ramparts to the portes to the cathedral to the old seminary to the town squares to the chapels and more. With research mostly drawn from the Vence city archives, Daurelle painted a picture of Vence that still fascinates readers today. At over 226 pages and with lots of interesting photos and drawings Daurelle’s book was for many years the definitive exploration of Vence.
What many people don’t know is that twenty years earlier Daurelle had published a smaller, less comprehensive book entitled Vence – Ses Monuments – Ses Saints – Ses Évêques – Ses Curés – Son Église – Son Trésor – Ses Reliques – Ses Chapelles. As the name implies, this smaller book concentrated almost exclusively on religious aspects of the town. Sold for the small price of 1 Franc, all profits from the original book went to the church. It was published in Paris by J. Mersch. There is no author listed anywhere on the book but a short introduction is signed “J.D.” I actually had this book for several years before I realized that “J.D.” stood for Jacques Daurelle.
This earlier book is only 60 pages long, but Daurelle manages to cover a great deal of territory. Much of this information is addressed in his later book (Vence et Ses Monuments), but this is still a very worthwhile read. There are no photos or drawings.
Original copies of this little paperback book are very hard to find. I bought this copy from a local bookseller several years ago and I’ve never seen another one. Searches of the rare book sites on the internet turn up nothing. To the best of my knowledge this book has never been reproduced over the years. It certainly has never been translated into English. (At least I can’t find anything online.) So, I decided to translate the book and make it available in our store for download. I’m excited to share this English translation with other English speakers who are interested in Vence.
Unfortunately, I have been able to find very little information about Jacques Daurelle. He appears to have written at least two other books: Essai sur le Meuble Provençal in 1930 (a book about Provençal furniture) and L’Art Religieux Ancien in 1932 (a book about religious art). Other than that, I’ve found nothing about him online.
To create this English translation I did the following: I first made a high quality scan of each page. I then used OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to convert the scanned images into actual text. I used ChatGPT to translate the text and then read through it carefully making any obvious corrections. There are bound to be errors here and there. I have followed the design and layout of the original book, copying the style and fonts as close as possible. On the whole, I think this is a very good translation and quite readable. I hope you find it worthwhile.
We are also offering a French text version PDF and a PDF that faithfully reproduces the original book. All three versions are available in our store, with discounts if you buy more than one version.
Here’s a breakdown of the chapters in the book and a look at some sample pages from the three different versions.
Vence – Ses Monuments – Ses Saints – Ses Évêques – Ses Curés – Son Église – Son Trésor – Ses Reliques – Ses Chapelles
Roman landmarks
Merovingian monuments
Monuments of the Middle Ages and others
Saint Veran
Saint-Lambert
Letter from Bishop William the White
Antoine Godeau
Bishop J.-B. Surian
Bishop Pisani of Gaude
The priests of Vence
Invention of the great relics of Saint Lawrence and Saint Lambert
A recent miracle of Saint Véran and Saint Lambert
The cathedral church of Vence
The tomb of Saint Lambert
The stalls, the lectern, the Provostship door, the sacristy door
The baptismal font, the high altar, the altarpieces
The Organs, stained glass, paintings
The old treasure
The current treasure
The relics
The chapels
[click on any image to see sample pages of the English version]