Moulin Lombard Les Arcs-sur-ArgensEN
Oil mill · Les Arcs-sur-Argens · 1777
Stay at Moulin Lombard: a journey through time
Two mills, one waterfall and nearly 250 years of history. Here, every stone tells of human skill and the power of water.
Back in time ▼A living heritage
Stone.
Olive.
Water.
Built in 1777 and active until 1956, the two adjoining ‘Lombard-style’ mills were once powered by the neighbouring waterfall.
Beneath the tufa-stone vaults, olives were crushed to extract their oil. Water flowed onto the top of the vertical overshot wheel, and the canal’s energy set the entire mechanism in motion.
The Moulin is not a recreated stage set. It still bears the marks of its original purpose, the work once carried out here and the people who kept it alive.
Six centuries of memory
From the canal
to the house.
The memory of water
The existence of the mill canal is already attested in a trial between the Lord and the Arc community.
The birth of the Mill
Two adjoining mills, separated by tufa-stone vaults, used the power of the waterfall to press olives.
The Great Winter
Frost destroyed the olive groves. After almost two centuries of activity, the mill fell silent.
A living home again
The building becomes a bed and breakfast with dinner for guests.
Heart starts beating again
Following an exceptional heritage restoration, the great vertical waterwheel returned to its original housing.
The restored wheel
3.66 metres
of history.
On 9 January 2026, seventeen heritage enthusiasts dismantled the last wooden elements, which had remained in place for almost 250 years. At the Charpentiers du Haut Var workshop in Le Muy, these surviving pieces became the templates for a new wheel.
Oak, red cedar and several original fragments were brought together. After 27 hours of painstaking work, the wheel returned to its housing—true to the spirit of the place and built to endure for years to come.
A collective adventure
The hands that set the wheel back in motion.
Before returning to its place, the wheel went through several stages: studying what remained, patiently restoring its components, then bringing together the people and expertise needed to install it.
With all our gratitude
Thank you to those who revived the wheel.
- BOIVIN Léonard
- BOUAN DU CHEF DU BOS Maxime
- CHARDOME Noé
- CHARTIER Nestor
- DONSIMONI Valérian
- CHANTEGRET Antoine
- LOSTE Corentin
- COLAS Aurélien
- BOULIC Rory
And to the Ateliers des Charpentiers du Haut Var — Le Muy.
A new life, without erasing the past
A house
inhabited by
His story.
After it was abandoned, the mill slowly fell into ruin before being converted into a home.
Today, guests sleep beneath the vaulted ceilings, hear the waterfall and discover the preserved machinery—a reminder that history is never far away.
Gramaci Prouvènço!Historical account documented by Franck Dugas, a former member of the Var Archaeological Centre.
Living the Mill
Choose your
way to experience the Moulin.
One night in history