SAINT MICHEL Frigolet: The Pearl of Montagnette.
Nestled in the heart of the massif of Montagnette, in a wild valley of olive trees pines and cypresses, the abbey takes its name from the Provençal "ferigoulo”, which means “thyme”, which smells in the surrounding hills.
Founded in the 10th s by monks of Montmajour, it has a Romanesque church from the 12th.
In 1866, a new gothic abbey church was consecrated. It is decorated with magnificent wall oil paintings inspired by the Sainte Chapelle of Paris. It houses the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Remedy, adorned with beautiful woodwork offered by Anne of Austria, to the community, in gratitude for the birth of Louis XIV, which occurred after 23 years of marriage.
The name of the abbey became famous in the world thanks to Alphonse Daudet, a famous French writer, when he imagined the abbey as backdrop for his famous story "The Elixir of Father Gaucher".