Peynier is a small Provençal village set in the forest 40km from Marseille and 20km from Aix-en-Provence, which covers 2,476 hectares between Sainte Victoire Mountain in the north and the Regagnas Chain in the south-east, in the heart of the Upper Valley of the Arc.

A former seigniory of the Viscounts of Marseille and the abbots of Saint-Victor, Peynier was the successive property of several families before it was made a marquisate for the Thomassins in 1743. Numerous Gallo-Roman remains show that the site has been inhabited since earliest times.

The town still has the feel of a medieval fortress when you walk around at nightfall, by the light of the streetlamps.