The Chaîne des Alpilles is a small range of low mountains in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, located about south of

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

Geography

The range is an extension of the much larger

Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mountain ranges (from w ...

range. Although it is not high - some 498 m (1,634 ft) at its highest point - the Alpilles range stands out impressively, as it rises abruptly from the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

valley and from the very flat alluvial plain of

Crau The Crau is the ancient confluence of the Durance and Rhône, and constitutes their vast flat alluvial fan. Agriculture The Crau is composed of two different parts: The dry Crau is in the south, and has been used as pasture from Roman times. Th ...

. The range is about 25 km long by about 8 to 10 km wide, running in an east-west direction between the Rhône and

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

peaks separated by dry valleys. Alpilles topographic map-fr

Communes

The Chaîne des Alpilles is part of the territory of 15

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

Aureille Aureille (; oc, Aurelha) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aureillois'' or ''Aureilloises'' in French. The commune has ...

Les Baux-de-Provence Les Baux-de-Provence (; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Lei Bauç de Provença), commonly called Baux, is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regio ...

Eygalières Eygalières (; Provençal: ''Aigalieras'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Jardin de l'alchimiste * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list ...

Eyguières Eyguières (; oc, Aiguiera) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du- ...

, Fontvieille,

Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rhôn ...

Maussane-les-Alpilles Maussane-les-Alpilles (; oc, Maussana deis Aupilhas; provençal: Maussano lis Aupiho) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in southern France. Geography The commune of Maussane-les-Alpil ...

Mouriès Mouriès (; oc, Moriés, ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population Economy Mouriès is known for its olive oil production, calling itself "the olive oil capital of France" (a claim disputed by Nyo ...

Paradou Paradou (, also ''Le Paradou''; oc, Lo Parador) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 commune ...

Orgon Orgon (; ancient: ''Urgonum'', ''Castrum de Urgone'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Geography Neighbouring villages and small towns include Les Baux-de-Provence, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Cavaillon. Or ...

Saint-Étienne-du-Grès Saint-Étienne-du-Grès ( Provençal: ''Sant Estève dau Gres'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. The commune was created in 1935 from part of Tarascon. It is situat ...

Saint-Martin-de-Crau Saint-Martin-de-Crau (; Provençal: ''Sant Martin de Crau'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Martinois''. Population Saint-Martin-de-Crau has the lowest population density o ...

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...

Sénas Sénas (; oc, Senàs) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône ...

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Taras ...

Flora and fauna

The lower slopes are planted with

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

and almond trees.

Kermes oak ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak, is an oak bush in the '' Ilex'' section of the genus. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern African Maghreb, south to north from Morocco to France and west to east from Portugal to Cyprus ...

s and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

s also grow there. Much of the range is bare rock or stony ground covered with scrub and

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

. The highest parts of the range are a nature reserve inhabited by a number of rare species, including

Bonelli's eagle The Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an ...

, the

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula and ...

and

eagle owl The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for the Eurasian eagle-owl. This genus contains 19 species that ar ...

. .

History

Some

protohistorical Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

settlements have been found in the Alpilles. In the very old village of Les Baux de Provence, a cave was used 8000 years ago.

Conservation

The Parc Naturel Régional des Alpilles was created on January 30, 2007. It covers the territory of 16 communes. The area is also under the protection of the Natura 2000 Environmental Protection Plan of the European Union.

The Alpilles in arts

The Alpilles were immortalized in art by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

, who painted many images of the Alpilles' landscapes during his time in

on the north side of the mountains. One of the paintings was given by van Gogh to his friend

Eugène Boch Eugène Boch (1 September 1855 – 3 January 1941) was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Vaast, La Louvière, Hainaut. He was the younger brother of Anna Boch, a founding member of Les XX. Life Eugène Boch was born into the fifth generation ...

.http://www.eugeneboch.com More about the Alpilles painting by Vincent van Gogh

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ...

's 1885 novel '' Tartarin sur les Alpes'', which is a sequel to the 1872 '' Tartarin de Tarascon'', takes place in the Alpilles.

References

{{Coord, 43, 45, 00, N, 4, 50, 00, E, type:adm2nd_region:FR, display=title Mountain ranges of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests