|  In
the heart of the old town
The village of Les Baux de Provence and its castle, set on a spur at the limit
of the chain of the Alpilles, dominate the narrow valley of "la
fontaine", and the widest valley of les Baux.
This priviledged geographical situation in very early times favoured men to
installed themselves on the site that reveals now a day a very big archeological
richness
The city leaves in the history of Provence a wake of glorious pages where wars
and pillages consort with opulence and luxury.
The lords of les Baux had as a
motto "Au hasard Balthazar", as a proud challenge to fate. They
pretended to be of the lineage of the three kings. For that reason did they take
as an emblem the star of nativity.
The last feudals and le vicomte de Turenne left behind them a completly ruined
country. After Alix des Baux and after the death of the roi René, The
cité des Baux was united to France in 1481.
After belonging to Bernardin
in 1513, then to the duc de Montmorency in 1538, the cité became the
providential refuge to the huguenots during religious war period.
When Antoine
de Villeneuve, the last sovereign of les Baux, opposed to Loius XIII, the king
had the citadel destroyed as well as all archives, fortifications and ramparts.
Wars and pillages will not prevent a gentle and poetical way of life. It was the
age of the "cour d'amour", when troubadours were going from fortress
to fortress to tell their poetries
Under the reign of the Reine Jeanne, those manifestations reached their apogee.
Then came the Renaissance, with its new concepts and ideas. Refinement and
confort allowad to forget a, sometime, too tumultuous past .
Now a day, walking throught the village of les Baux, one can witness traces of
the past being reborn : The hotels of Brion, Manville, Porcelet, are living
proves of it.
The narrow streets, the old stoned houses and their history will
easily get you to imagine walking throught midle ages time.
The hotel de Manville hes been totaly restaured and serves today as the mairie
as well as the contemporary art museum where you will be able te see the art
work of regional modern artists or of artists having sejourned in Provence.
In a midst of an archeological project, a first intervention, in march 1992,
allowed to search the ground area with high precision.
Since, you can see real
size medieval engines set at the bottom of the castel ( such as a
trébuchet 10 meters high, a baliste of 4 tons weight, a bélier 8
meters long). Visitors can now appreciate the tumultuous history of la
cité des Baux.
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Alpilles
