OCHRE of Luberon

In 1780, Jean Etienne Astier de Roussillon, gave it an industrial dimension. Ochre reigned supreme in the village. Farms prospered until the late '30s, involving most of the population. Today, only the company Guigou, “ Société des Ocres de France” still operates ochre in Gargas and in Rustrel and markets it in the town of Apt.

But in the twentieth century, modern mining and the discovery of more profitable deposits gradually closed all the mines. In the early '80s, tourism has replaced the mining industry. But ochre has not totally disappeared from the income of the municipality. Indeed, this is it, its incomparable color which drew the first artists fascinated by the red landscape. It is also ochre and spectacular landforms that attract tourists into the Provençal Colorado.

 

Roussillon is, after Gordes, the second most visited village in the Luberon and also has the label of " most beautiful villages in France ". It is best to discover Roussillon by a sunny morning either arriving by road from Saint Saturnin-lès-Apt, the view is so magical, the village appears at the top of a steep hill whose red colors are heightened by the sun or by road from Goult, where red ochre appears gradually amid the pine forests to suddenly invade the landscape.
 

The winding main street that leads to the top of the village is lined with art galleries, shops selling Provencal products and pretty houses of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Above, St. Michael's church has a beautiful facade of the XVIIth century and is adjacent to a cliff where there is a magnificent 360 ° view on the Luberon valley.

 

A few hundred meters from the heart of the village, on the southeast side, the ocher trail winds through the ocher cliffs that shades ranging from white to purple through yellow, orange and red.

 

The territory of Gargas is the only village where the history of the exploitation of ochre extends from its beginnings to today with the latest active career in Europe.

The Luberon ochre was once exploited in mines carved into the cliffs in the light of the carbide lamp, pickaxe in hand. From 1880 to 1950, more than 50 km of tunnels have been shaped.

 

Today the remains of the old mine Janselme " the quarry of Bruoux " is open to the public. A journey of 650 meters was built safely in this majestic site, combining natural and historical riches. Impressive galleries, vaulted, in bullet form or semicircular, 5 to 12 meters high mineral form a veritable cathedral: a dive into the world of beauty and colors that pays tribute to the work of miners, but also artists.

 

The beauty of the Provençal Colorado lies in the fact that the site was created by both nature and the ochre.

 

A Rustrel, the exploitation started in the late XIXth century. The miners ripped the earth to extract the precious pigments declining a warm color palette and giving rise to landscapes with fantastic shape. The paths run between municipal roads and private properties, through narrow valleys, along the cliffs, the Sahara and the chimneys of the fairies…
 

On the site, the remains of the work of men recall : settling tanks, pipes, pumps, the Notre Dame des Anges, the Doa ...

In the midst of plants such as cistus leaf sage or bay leaves, Scots pine and pine trees, many protected species often visit the site : amphibians in the pond of a place called " hole in the Americans " , the wasps on the ocher cliffs , deer and wild boar leaving traces in the colored sands.

 

Here we admire the work of sculptor erosion, the remains of the operation, the flamboyant colors of ochre on the deep green of the flora, the beautiful views of the perched villages of the Luberon, overlooking the valley since centuries.