Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, 262 steps to the chapel hanging beneath the star of Moustiers.

What it is

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is wedged into a cleft of the mountain, between two crags. Between them hangs a 135 m chain with a golden star in the centre, the village's emblem, with legends of faith, history, superstition and love. Through the same cleft climbs a cobbled path of 262 steps, flanked by the stations of a Way of the Cross, up to the chapel of Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, hanging from the rock above the rooftops.

The chapel has existed since the 12th century and was extended until the 16th, so it is partly Romanesque and partly Gothic; it has been a listed historic monument since 1921. It was a place of pilgrimage. From the esplanade in front you see the whole village and the Verdon valley.

The climb

You set off from the centre of the village, along rue de la Bourgade, and climb on foot: there is no other way. It is 262 uneven steps, with steep stretches, which take a good quarter of an hour at an easy pace; allow half an hour or a little more with the descent and some time at the top. It is not suitable for pushchairs.

It is free and open all year. In summer go up first thing or last thing in the afternoon: at midday the sun beats down and the steps fill with people.

What else to see in the village

Below, the church of Notre-Dame de l'Assomption has a 12th-century Lombard bell tower and an altar made from a 5th-century white marble sarcophagus carved with the crossing of the Red Sea. In the streets there are fountains, wash-houses and an aqueduct over the Adou torrent. Moustiers has been on the list of the Plus Beaux Villages de France since 1983. If you want to walk further, the tourist office suggests a loop that continues from the chapel through the olive groves of Les Claux.