Oppède is certainly one of the most authentic and preserved villages in the Luberon. Built on a rocky outcrop, you really have to climb to the top to reach Notre-Dame-d'Alydon Church. The climb can be arduous but, from there, you can contemplate a magnificent panorama. You can even see Mont-Ventoux if there are no clouds. It is visible in some photos.

Unfortunately, the 13th century fortress has been destroyed, only ruins suggest its past presence.

The village survived thanks to comedian Michel Leeb. He got married in the "perched" church. In love with this village, he organizes a festival every year whose earnings are used to renovate and maintain this village.

A beautiful village to visit if you pass through the Luberon. And a piece of advice, pay for parking because the municipal police come regularly, even in November...

The name of Oppède appears for the first time at the beginning of the 11th century. It may come from the word oppidum (Gallic fortified town, on a generally high place), which would correspond well to the site of Oppède-le-Vieux.

After having belonged to the Count of Toulouse, Oppède came under the authority of the popes in 1274, after the Albigensian crusade. During the Great Schism of the Papacy, Oppède welcomes Antipope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna) but the latter has to flee by jumping through a window of the castle, to take refuge in Spain, in Péniscola.

In 1630, a plague epidemic decimated the population. The castle was abandoned towards the end of the 17th century. It will be completely devastated in 1731 due to a powerful earthquake. Today, its silhouette has remained the same since 1731. The castle was subsequently used as a stone quarry until the beginning of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, discouraged by the difficulty of cultivation due to poor exposure to the sun, the population descended towards the plain. The church and the town hall (in 1912) follow and the center of the town is now in Oppède-les-Poulivets, the old Oppède being hardly inhabited and falling into ruins.