Jean de Florette: Filming Locations in Provence

Ugolin throws himself into a project to grow carnations on his property in the mountains, and Les Romarins is the farm at the heart of the feud. On screen it is Riboux in the Var: Claude Berri shot Jean de Florette and its sequel in the hills around Riboux, with the farm at the hamlet of Château-Renard. This is also where Papet and Ugolin plug the spring that could water the neighbouring land with cement and earth.

Location precision: The Les Romarins farm stood in the hills at Château-Renard; the pin marks Riboux village.

Ugolin's carnations are what start the scheme: his uncle César, called Le Papet, is convinced when the flowers get a good price at the market. The market scenes of the film were shot in Sommières in the Gard. Good prices convince them the project is worthy of expansion, so together they go to see the neighbouring farmer, Pique-Bouffigue, to buy his land.

Location precision: The film's market scenes were shot in Sommières; the pin marks the town centre.

For the village of the story Claude Berri settled on Mirabeau in the Vaucluse. Ugolin, according to local custom, calls the newcomer Jean de Florette. The crew replaced the house facades with painted polystyrene to make them look older. In 2018 a bronze statue of Manon seated on the fountain's edge was installed here, with a plaque saying the films were shot in Mirabeau in 1985.

Location precision: Mirabeau stood in for the story's village; the pin marks the village centre.

Visitor guidance: The statue of Manon sits beside the village fountain.

Jean arrives with his wife Aimée and daughter Manon, determined to make the farm profitable within two years by breeding rabbits and growing their own produce. His house in the film is in Vaugines, where Berri planted a dozen olive trees twelve months before filming started. Without water, the plan fails, and Jean dies when the dynamite he buys to finish his well goes wrong.

Location precision: The farmhouse is in Vaugines; the pin marks the village, not the exact private property.

The twelfth-century Romanesque church of Vaugines is the church of both films and a listed historic monument since 2000. Its bench is the setting of the famous bench scene, where Papet learns a terrible revelation from the old Delphine. It is the last place on the route, and the moment the whole story turns.

Visitor guidance: The church is in the village centre of Vaugines; check opening times locally.