Les Baux de Provence: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 103 - 605 Oustau de Baumanière
 Oustau de Baumanière is located in les Baux de Provence. It offers well designed and well equipped guestrooms.
L´Outsau de Baumaniére is home… MoreEUR 130 - 490 Mas de l´Oulivié
 Surrounded by olive trees, cypresses, in the heart of a garden perfumed with lavender and rosemary, this old Provençal house with its terracotta tile… MoreEUR 52 - 150 Le Fabian des Baux
 Located in Les Baux-de-Provence, this hotel is surrounded by an orchard of olive trees and offers views of the Alpilles Mountains. It features an outd… MoreEUR 170 - 440 La Cabro D´or
 Nestled in a wonderful garden at the heart of the Alpilles mountains, the Cabro D´or is a family-friendly hotel with facilities including tennis… MoreEUR 105 - 440 Benvengudo
 Benvengudo is a former traditional Provencal house that has been restored as an elegant hotel with chic interior design, and modern rooms. It is locat… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Les Baux de Provence: Guide
Les Baux de Provence is a small village and province of Provence. It has a spectacular position in the Alpilles mountains, set atop a rocky outcrop crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its names refers to its site — in Provençal language|Provençal, a baou is a rocky spur.
History
The defensive possibilities of Les Baux led to the site being settled early on in human history. Traces of habitation have been found dating back as far as Balthazar and even placed the Star of Bethlehem on their coat of arms.
Despite their strengths, the lords of Baux were deposed in the 12th century. However, the great castle at Les Baux became renowned for its court, famed for a high level of ornateness, culture and chivalry. The domain was finally extinguished in the 15th century with the death of the last princess of Baux, Alice of Baux.
Les Baux was later joined, along with Provence, to the French crown under the governance of the Manville family. It became a centre for Protestantism and its unsuccessful revolt against the crown, led Cardinal Richelieu in 1632 to order that the castle and its walls should be razed.
The town was granted in Princess Caroline of Monaco.
In 1822 the mineral bauxite was discovered near Les Baux by the geologist Pierre Berthier. It was subsequently mined extensively in the area, but by the end of the 20th century had been completely worked out; France now imports most of its bauxite from west Africa.
Les Baux today
Les Baux is now given over entirely to the tourist trade, relying on a reputation as one of the most picturesque villages in France. It is, nevertheless, a shadow of its former self: its present population of 22 in the old village is a fraction of its peak population of over 4,000, and many of its buildings (in particular the castle) are nothing more than picturesque ruins.
The surrounding dramatic rocks and cliffs are said to have inspired Dante Alighieri in his vivid descriptions of Purgatory in the Inferno.
See also
Les Baux de Provence AOC
External links
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Les Baux de Provence". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Les Alpilles - Les Baux
(in French)