Château Val Joanis is a winery located in the Vaucluse Department of France, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, just west of the town of Pertuis. The wines it produces are classified AOC Côtes du Luberon.
The Chateau is built on the site of an ancient Roman villa, some of whose stones today decorate the garden. The building is decorated with the coat of arms of Jean de Joanis, the secretary of the King Louis III of Naples. The estate was occupied by the Arnaud family, who kept it until the 17th century. The estate was given the status of a fief in 1754.
The house and estate fell into ruins during the 19th century. It was purchased in 1977 by Jean-Louis Chancel. Between 1979 and 1999, he planted 186 hectares of vines. He also commissioned the architect Jean-Jacques Pichoux to build a modern winery building, inspired by the architectural style of the Dominican Order.
The gardens were begun in 1978 by the owner, Cécile Chancel, with the help of landscape designer Tobie Loup de Viane. The garden was finished in its present form in 1990 and became a Remarkable Garden of France in 2005. The garden is built on three terraces cut into a hillside overlooking the vineyards.
The upper terrace is a kitchen garden and flower garden.The middle terrace is devoted to flowers and ornamental plants.The lower terrace is devoted to fruit trees, and to platane trees over twenty years of age brought from Mount Athos.
The three terraces are linked by a pergola, or tunnel, covered with climbing roses and trumpet vines, which runs from the top to the bottom of the garden.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.