Mas De La Chapelle
Arles, France

The Mas de La Chapelle was once a Priory of the Order of Knights of Malta, a semi-religious and military community formed in the Middle Ages to ensure the transportation and safety of pilgrims traveling from Europe to the Holy Land. This Order received the possessions of the Knights of the Temple when they were suppressed by King Philippe le Bel. In 1615, the land was ruled by the Grand Priory of the language of Provence (what is currently the Réattu d'Arles Museum) who owned 48 command posts and managed more than 20,000 hectares in the region.

The Mas de la Chapelle was built in the 16th century on a small hill in the Arlesian countryside. It is bordered on the east side by the Montmajour Abbey marshes and cut-across by the via Aurélienne which served as an embankment to the Rhône. The Mas de La Chapelle has always been a busy inn (bégaude in Provençal) as Arles was one of the four starting points for the Camino françese route of the Pilgrims of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle. This fact is corroborated by the name given to the farm of the domain: La Coquille ("The Shell"), the symbol of these Pilgrims.

The Chapel, dedicated to Saint-Jean des Moissonneurs was reconstructed in the 17th century in a classical style following a fire started during troubles provoked by the Holy Wars. The farmhouse was sold during the French Revolution, the land was planted as a vineyard, and the Chapel was converted into a wine cellar and store! This downfall happily protected the Chapel from otherwise certain destruction.

Repurchased in the year 2000 by a Franco-Swiss interior designer and art historian, the Mas de la Chapelle has been completely renovated and transformed into a small hôtel de charme in the spirit of bed & breakfast. The establishment offers fourteen rooms, each having a particular character. The Chapelle has been metamorphosed into a large baroque hall and the adjacent building has three large rooms on the second floor, with the reception area and breakfast room located on the ground floor. Near the central building are the Red House, accommodating four rooms giving on to a terrace, the Pool Patio, which has six rooms, and the Turret House, which has one room, known as the "chambre des Amoureux". At your disposal is a pool, a wading pool for children, two tennis courts and a three-hectare park. For delectable cravings, a small road that runs alongside the Rhône river will bring your directly into Arles, four kilometers along the way, where a restaurant awaits you on a Péniche moored on the banks of the river