Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

146  PROVENCE AREA B Y AREA

A late 18th-century fresco showing the Baux warriors in battle against the Saracens in 1266
eLes Baux-de- the Fondation Louis Jou and E Musée des Santons
Provence the Musée des Santons. Next La Maison du Roy. Tel 04 90 54 34 39.
door to the 12th-century Eglise Open daily.
Road map B3. * 470. @ n La St-Vincent is the Chapelle des In the 16th-century old town
Maison du Roy (04 90 54 34 39). Pénitents Blancs, decorated in hall, a Provençal crib scene has
∑ lesbauxdeprovence.com 1974 by the local artist Yves been created, representing the
Brayer. Just north of Les Baux nativity at Les Baux. Handmade
Les Baux sits on a spur of the lies the Carrières de Lumières. clay santons or figurines (see
Alpilles (bau in Provençal means p52), representing saints and
escarpment) and the historic + Château des Baux local figures, show the evolution
Château des Baux has views teau des Baux has views teau des Baux Tel 04 90 54 55 56. Open daily. of Provençal costume.
across to the Camargue (see ∑ chateau-baux-provence.com
pp140–43). The most dramatic This majestic fortified castle E Carrières de Lumières
fortress site in Provence, it has offers breathtaking views Route de Maillane. Tel 04 90 54 47 37.
nearly two million visitors a of the surrounding region Open daily. Closed mid-Jan–Feb. &
year, so avoid midsummer, from Aix to Arles. 7 ∑ carrieres-lumieres.com
or go early in the Located on the D27 road to the
morning. The E Fondation north of Les Baux and within
pedestrianized town Louis Jou walking distance of the main car
has a car park beside Hôtel Brion, Grande Rue. park in Les Baux is the Val d’Enfer
the Porte Mage gate. Tel 04 90 54 34 17. or the Valley of Hell. This jagged
When the Lords of Monument to poet Open by appt. & gorge, said to be inhabited by
Baux built their fine Charloun Rieu Medieval books witches and spirits, may have
citadel here in the are housed here, inspired some of Dante’s poetry.
10th century, they claimed one along with a collection of It is also the site where bauxite
of the three wise men, King prints and drawings by Dürer, was discovered in 1822 by the
Balthazar, as an ancestor and Goya and Jou, the local mineralogist Berthier, who named
took the star of Bethlehem engraver after whom the it after the town. It was in this big
as their emblem. These fierce museum is named. quarry that the Cathédrale d’Images
warriors originated the
troubadour Courts of Love and
wooed noble ladies with poetry
and songs. This became the
medieval convention known
as courtly love and paved the
way for a literary tradition.
The citadel ruins lie on the
heights of the escarpment.
Their entrance is via the
14th-century Tour-du-Brau. A
plateau extends to the end of
the escarpment, where there
is a monument to the poet
Charloun Rieu (1846–1924).
In the town centre, two other
museums of local interest are View of the citadel and village of Les Baux
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp200–1 and pp212–15