Page 175 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Provence & The Côte d'Azur

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eGordes
Bories
Road map C3. * 2,000. n Pl de
Château (04 90 72 02 75). ( Tue. The ancient dwellings known
∑ luberoncoeurdeprovence.com as bories were domed dry­stone
buildings made from lauzes
Expensive restaurants and hotels (limestone slabs), with walls
provide a clue to the popularity up to 1.5 m (4 ft) thick. They
of this hilltop village, which dated from 2,000 BC and were
spills down in terraces from a regularly rebuilt, using ancient
Renaissance château and the methods, until the last century
when they were abandoned.
church of St­Firmin. Its impres­ Around 3,000 bories are still
sive position is the main attraction, standing, many in fields where
although its vaulted, arcaded they were used for shelter or
medieval lanes are also alluring. storing implements. Twenty
The village has been popular have been restored in the Village
with artists since the academic des Bories, outside Gordes.
Cubist painter André Lhote
began visiting in 1938.
The Château de Gordes was now hosts temporary exhib­ rRoussillon
built in the 16th century on the itions during the summer. The Road map C3. * 1,350. n Pl de
site of a 12th­century fortress. 17th­century Caves du Palais la Poste (04 90 05 60 25). ( Thu.
One of the château’s best feat­ St­Firmin have an impressive ∑ otroussillon.pagesperso-
ures is an ornate 16th­century old stone olive press. orange.fr
fireplace in the great hall on the Just outside Gordes is the
first floor, decorated with shells, Village des Bories (see box), (see box), (see box The deep ochres used in the
flowers and pilasters. In the now a museum of rural life. construction of this hilltop
entrance there is an attractive community are stunning. No
Renaissance door. The building + Château de Gordes other village looks so warm and
was rented and restored by the Pl du Chateau. Tel 04 90 72 98 64. rich, so harmonious and inviting.
Hungarian­born Op Art painter Open Apr–Oct: daily. & Its hues come from at least
Victor Vasarely (1908–97), and T Village des Bories 17 shades of ochre discovered in
once housed a museum of his Rte de Cavaillon. Tel 04 90 72 03 48. and around the village, notably
abstract works. The château Open daily. Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & in the dramatic former quarries
along the Sentier des Ochres.
The entrance to the quarries
is to the east of the village,
a 1­hour and 30­minute trip
from the information office. The
Conservatoire des Ocres et de la
Couleur in the old factory (open
mid-F
mid-Feb–Dec: daily), is worth eb–Dec: daily), is worth eb–Dec: daily
mid-F
visiting. It displays a huge collec­
tion of natural pigments, and
runs day courses on the subject.
A superb panorama to the
north can be seen from the
Castrum, the viewing table
beside the church, above the
tables with umbrellas in the
main square.
Before its housing boom,
Roussillon was a typical Provençal
backwater. In the 1950s, American
sociologist Laurence Wylie spent
a year in Roussillon with his family
and wrote a book about village
life, Un Village du Vaucluse. He
concluded that Roussillon was
a “hard­working, productive
community”, for all its feuds and
tensions. Playwright Samuel
Beckett lived here during WWII,
but his impression was much
The hilltop village of Gordes, spilling down in terraces less generous.