Nestling at the heart of the Popes'Enclave, an island of four villages of Vaucluse enclosed in the Drôme provençale, Visan has for main activity wine-growing (2060 hectares are planted with vine) thanks to its exceptional soil with a rich historical background (vine is grown in Visan since Antiquity and became the Popes' property in 1344).
The vine was grown in Gaul six centuries before Christ.
At the Roman period, the vine was cultivated in Visan since the 3rd century in the reign of Probus.
The Lords and, above all, the templars developed the vine-growing in Visan.
In 1250, Visan owned a communal wine-press where the grapes were brought.
Famous since the XIIth century, the chapel of NOTRE DAME DES VIGNES bears witness to the wine-growing at this period.
On the arch of the choir, the following inscriptions can be read "Poseunt Me Custodem In Vineis" (they made me the guardian of their vines). The inside of the chapel is richly decorated. At the center of the choir is placed the polychrome wooden statue of the Virgin bearing the Christ-child in her arms, which has been discovered by a wine-grower in his vineyard.
Saint Vincent chapel is another witness of the importance of wine-growing at this period.
In 1475, the wine-growers of Visan founded a fraternity dedicated to Saint Vincent, patron saint of the wine-growers, to show their common love for the vine.
It was the first fraternity of the region and one of the first ones in France.
