Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (; or simply ) is a commune in the southeastern French department of

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

. Its name comes from the spring of the same name; the name Vaucluse itself comes from the Latin phrase ''vallis clausa'' or "closed valley".

Heraldry

The coat of arms of the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is:

"Blue, with a
Trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
and a Grayling, poised horizontally." ( Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun, in ''France Illustrated'', book V, 1884)

Geography

Situation

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse ("spring of Vaucluse") is built around the Fontaine de Vaucluse, a spring in a valley at the foot of the

Vaucluse Mountains The Vaucluse Mountains (French: ''Monts de Vaucluse'') are a mountain range of the French Prealps located in the departement of Vaucluse, between the Luberon, Luberon Massif and Mont Ventoux. The highest peak is Signal de Saint-Pierre, which r ...

, between Saumane-de-Vaucluse and Lagnes, not far from

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (; or ) is a town and Communes of France, commune on the Sorgue river in Southeastern France. Politically, the commune is in the arrondissement of Avignon within the Departments of France, department of Vaucluse, in the Re ...

. It is named after the spring, the source of the river

Sorgue The Sorgue is a river in Southeastern France lying between the foothills of the Alps and the Rhône. It is long. Its source is near the town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Vaucluse department. It is the biggest spring in France and the fifth bigge ...

Hydrography

The fountain, or spring, of Vaucluse, situated at the feet of a steep limestone cliff 230 metres high, the biggest spring in France. It is also the fifth largest in the world with an annual flow of 630 million cubic metres, or an average of 71918 m3 per hour. The fountain of Vaucluse surges in March for about 5 weeks and then subsides. The increased flow of water swells the Sorgue to flood. The mechanism behind the surging remains somewhat of a mystery.

History

This village of about 600 inhabitants was once called ''Vaucluse'' or the "closed valley" (''Vallis Clausa'' in Latin) and gave its name to the French department of Vaucluse. Several trails indicate human occupation in the area since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. Its spring has been the object of a major cult since Antiquity, and the Sorgue was used as a trade route by the

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

Massalia Massalia (; ) was an ancient Greek colonisation, Greek colony (''apoikia'') on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, east of the Rhône. Settled by the Ionians from Phocaea in 600 BC, this ''apoikia'' grew up rapidly, and its population se ...

and later the Romans. Following some major discoveries from two cave dives by the SSFV, two archaeological sites under the protection of the SRA PACA has allowed more than 1600 antique coins from the first century BC to the 5th century AD to be brought back up to the surface. During the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, in the 6th century, the hermit Saint Veran is said to have lived on the spot. Miracles attributed to him led to his being consecrated as Bishop of Cavaillon. His successor, Walcaudus, received the consent of the ruling counts of the area to settle monks there. A

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

was constructed, but was in ruins by the 11th century. Clement, the Bishop of Cavaillon, ordered its reconstruction by Isarn, abbot of Sainte-Victoire. In the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

, the poet

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

made it his preferred residence in the 14th century, writing, "The illustrious source of the Sorgue, famous for itself long ago, became even more famous by my long stay and my songs." (Petrarch, Seniles, X, 2). The poet left in 1353 after his son's death. The village was razed shortly afterward by bandits, who withdrew at the sight of the intimidating episcopal seat. A museum stands on the spot of Petrarch's house today, and the town is twinned with Arquà Petrarca, where the poet died. Following this attack, the village and valley fell into oblivion. Thought of as a wild place, it was avoided through the 16th and 17th centuries. Vaucluse was again popularized by a duel between the famous Honore Gabriel Riqueti and Louis-Francois de Galliffet. A letter published by Riqueti brought fame to the area again, and a column was built to honour Petrarch in the eighteenth century. In 1946,

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

and another diver nearly died while searching for the bottom of the spring due to contamination of their air supply by carbon monoxide.

Population

Places and monuments

* The principal point of interest is the source of the

at the foot of a cliff 240 metres high: Its average flow is 22 m³ / second, the highest in France, and can attain 110 m³ after the snow melts. It wasn't until 1985 that the mystery of its origin was partially revealed: in effect, the lowest point is at -308m depth attained by a robot belonging to the Spelunking Society of Fontaine de Vaucluse. The spring is the only exit point of a subterranean basin of 1200 km² that collects the water from

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

, the Vaucluse mountains and from the Lure mountain. * Ruins of the castle of the Bishop of Cavaillon * Ancient paper mil
Mill Vallis Clausa
* Museum of the Resistance *

museum (on the site of his former house) * Santon museumSanton museum
/ref>

People related to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

The following people are related to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse: * Veranus of Cavaillon * Philippe de Cabassoles * Fernand Meyssonnier *

Gallery

File:Castle Fontaine de Vaucluse by JM Rosier.jpg, Ruins of the castle File:Water by JM Rosier.jpg, The flowing of the water File:Fontaine de Vaucluse jt02.jpg, Bishop of Cavaillon's castle, overhanging the village File:La Sorgue shrouded in fog, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.JPG, The Sorgue shrouded in fog File:La Sorgue, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.JPG, The Sorgue in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse File:Musée-Bibliothèque François Pétrarque, Fontaine de Vaucluse, France.jpg, Museum and library dedicated to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarca

References

External links

Official website

The History of the Fontaine de Vaucluse cave - SSFV : Fontaine de Vaucluse cave exploration and cave diving association
(Société Spéléologique de Fontaine de Vaucluse, ".fr" link)
www.laSorgue.com

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse sur le site de l'Institut Géographique National

Société Spéléologique de Fontaine de Vaucluse (Speleological Society of the Vaucluse Resurgence), ".org" link - a holding page on last trying.

Office of Tourism
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontainedevaucluse Communes of Vaucluse Springs of France Landforms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur