The site, between Apt and Sisteron on the Roman road Via Domitia, was once that of the Roman settlement of Alaunium, named after the local god Alaunius, which later became Aulun, and gave its name to the chapel that was built there, Sainte-Marie d'Aulun.
Originally a modest farmstead built a few kilometres south of the Via Domitia, on the hillside overlooking the Bassin de Thau, it rapidly prospered and grew.
The 12th century Romanesque church of Notre-Dame de Pitié, also known as Saint Mary of Saignon, has been a stopping point for religious pilgrims since the Middle Ages: in addition to local pilgrims from Provence, it was positioned on the way for those traveling to Rome along the Via Domitia, and for Italian pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.