Porquerolles (; oc, Porcairòlas), also known as the Île de Porquerolles, is an island in the

Îles d'Hyères The Îles d'Hyères (), also known as Îles d'Or (), are a group of four Mediterranean islands off Hyères in the Var department of Southeastern France. Islands With a combined area of , the Îles d'Hyères consist of *Porquerolles – , ...

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Its land area is and in 2004, its population has benn about 200. Porquerolles, the largest and most westerly of the Îles d'Hyères, is about long by wide, with five small ranges of hills. The south coast is lined with cliffs, and on the north coast are the port and the beaches of Notre Dame, La Courtade and Plage d'Argent.

History

Porquerolles vue du ciel - Anse de la Courtade

The island's village was established in 1820, with its lighthouse constructed in 1837 and church in 1850. The entire island was purchased in 1912 by

François Joseph Fournier François Joseph Fournier (December 6, 1857 - January 13, 1935) was a self-taught Belgian adventurer and entrepreneur who explored Mexico and the island of Porquerolles. He was born into a family of modest means, in Clabecq, Belgium and died on ...

, apparently as a wedding present for his wife; he planted of vineyards, which produced a wine that was among the first to be classified as ''vin des Côtes de Provence''. In 1971, the state bought 80 percent of the island to preserve it from development. Much of the island is now part of a national park (the '' Port-Cros Parc National'') and nature conservation area (''

Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles The Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles (180 hectares) is a national conservatory and botanical garden located within the '' Parc National de Port-Cros'' on Porquerolles in the Îles d'Hyères, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côt ...

''). Porquerolles is the setting for Georges Simenon's novels ' ("The Mahe Circle") (1946) and ' (''My Friend Maigret'') (1949) and for the 1964 novel ''Valparaiso'' by

Nicolas Freeling Nicolas Freeling (born Nicolas Davidson; 3 March 1927 – 20 July 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the "Van der Valk" series of detective novels. A television series based on the character was produced for the Brit ...

. Some scenes of the film '' Pierrot le fou '', by Jean-Luc Godard (1965) were filmed in Porquerolles. Since 2010, the island also hosts a jazz festival each summer ("Jazz à Porquerolles").

Climate

Porquerolles has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Porquerolles is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Porquerolles was on 7 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1956.

Points of interest

* Port-Cros Parc National

References

Site officiel de Porquerolles

Port-Cros Parc National
Îles d'Hyères Landforms of Var (department) Populated places established in 1820 Tourist attractions in Var (department) French Riviera Mediterranean islands Islands of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur {{Var-geo-stub