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22-766: The highest peak is Signal de Saint-Pierre, which reaches the height of 1,256 metres (4,121 ft). Oriented east-west, the Toulourenc river and the Jabron torrent border the mountain range to the north, to the south by the Calavon valley and beyond the Luberon , to the west and north-west by the Comtat Venaissin plain, and to the east it extends nearly all the way to the Durance . The northern part constitutes

44-509: A chanson for the film. Under the name of Peyrane, Roussillon is the subject of Laurence Wylie , Village in the Vaucluse (first edition 1957.) Roussillon is the setting of Susan Vreeland's 2015 novel, Lisette's List , about a young couple who move from Paris to Roussillon in 1937 to live with the husband's aging grandfather, an ochre miner and pigment salesman, who owns several post-impressionist paintings. The village gave its name to

66-451: A gradual closing-down of ochre mines in and around Roussillon. From the 1980s, tourism has replaced ochre industry as a source of income. Apart from tourism, agriculture is the commune's principal activity. Fruit, including cherries, peaches and melons are grown. Much of this is used in crystallized fruit production in nearby Apt . Wine-making is very important and there are several wineries producing red, rosé , and white wines within

88-480: A plateau with a low density of inhabitants outside of villages and hamlets. Several perched villages are found on the southern hillsides. Some examples are the municipalities of Méthamis , Venasque , Gordes , Murs , Joucas and Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt . First trace of occupation date from the Neolithic period. The territory was occupied by several Celtic-Ligurian tribes. Numerous oppidums can be found on

110-745: Is a commune in the Vaucluse department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France . It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Roussillon lies within the borders of the Natural Regional Park of Luberon . In the French natural regional parks system, new economic activities may be developed only if they are sustainable. It

132-410: Is made up of a secondary range that travels from the region of Sault to the plain. The altitude varies between 300 and 1,000 m (980 and 3,280 ft). West of Mont Ventoux , Les Dentelles de Montmirail (The Laces of Montmirail), which has an altitude of 722 m (2,369 ft), take their name from the shape obtained by the erosion of the rock. The Luberon regional natural park extends to

154-402: Is near Banon . It flows generally west-southwest. It is a right tributary of the Durance into which it flows at Caumont-sur-Durance , near Cavaillon . This list is ordered from source to mouth: [REDACTED] Media related to Calavon at Wikimedia Commons Roussillon, Vaucluse Roussillon ( French pronunciation: [ʁusijɔ̃] ; Occitan : Rossilhon )

176-404: Is noted for its large ochre deposits found in the clay surrounding the village. Ochres are pigments ranging from yellow and orange to red. One of the former ochre quarries can be visited via the "Sentier des Ocres" (Ochre Path), a walk of either 30 or 60 minutes through the old workings. The village stands on an ochre ridge, situated in a broad valley with the "Monts du Vaucluse" to the north and

198-657: Is only if you consider the following municipalities: Apt , Beaumettes , Cabrières-d'Avignon , Caseneuve , Fontaine-de-Vaucluse , Gargas , Gignac , Gordes , Goult , Joucas , La Roque-sur-Pernes , Lagnes , Le Beaucet , Lioux , L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue , Méthamis , Murs , Oppedette , Pernes-les-Fontaines , Roussillon , Rustrel , Saint-Didier , Sainte-Croix-à-Lauze , Saint-Pantaléon , Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt , Saumane-de-Vaucluse , Velleron , Venasque , Viens et Villars ... but various municipalities or parts of municipalities, such as Aurel , Le Beaucet , Monieux , Saint-Christol , Sault , etc. The Vaucluse mountains are

220-623: The Basses-Alpes . The mountainous area helped early resistance and many households during the German occupation . On November 11 1948, several municipalities in the Vaucluse mountains, such as Gordes (silver star degree) or Sault (silver-gilt star degree) received the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 . In April 1965, due to its low population density and its soil, the Albion plateau was chosen for

242-604: The Ventoux AOC . The Irish writer Samuel Beckett went into hiding from the Nazis in Roussillon during the years 1942–1945. His novel Watt was written there, and Beckett mentioned the village in his famous play Waiting for Godot ( En attendant Godot ) (1955). Film director Henri Colpi shot this movie Heureux qui comme Ulysse (1970) with Fernandel as the leading character in Roussillon; Georges Brassens wrote

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264-521: The "Petit" Luberon to the south. The nearest railway station is in Cavaillon; the nearest TGV station is in Avignon . The river Calavon forms part of the commune's southern border. Roussillon is famous for the rich deposits of ochre pigments found in the clay near the village. The large quarries of Roussillon were mined from the end of the 18th century until 1930. Thousands of people found work in

286-450: The "Usine Mathieu", is named for the family that owned it from 1870 to 1901. It has been formed into a "Conservatoire": a workshop serving as a museum. The quarries and factories were established in the villages of Roussillon, Villars , Gargas , Rustrel (with its Colorado provençal ) and Gignac . During the 20th century, mining techniques were modernized, which meant that more profitable ochre mines became exploitable. This resulted in

308-544: The European geostrategy ( fall of the Eastern bloc ). Furthermore the aging of missiles were too expensive to maintain, and it was judged unnecessary to upgrade them. Very well known for its cultivation of lavender, the economy of the plateau is essentially oriented towards agriculture ( lavender , spelt and other types of cereals, goat breeding, etc.) and tourism (eco-friendly camping, hiking , mountain biking , caving ,

330-590: The Lavender Route ...). 44°10′28″N 5°16′44″E  /  44.1744°N 5.2789°E  / 44.1744; 5.2789 Calavon The Calavon ( French pronunciation: [kalavɔ̃] ; also called le Coulon ) is an 86.7-kilometre (53.9 mi) long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse départements , southeastern France . Its drainage basin is 1,027 km (397 sq mi). Its source

352-671: The Marseilles plague from invading the Papal States by building plague walls south of the Vaucluse mountains, in Lagnes , Cabrières-d'Avignon , and Murs . On August 12 1793, the department of Vaucluse was created, consisting of the districts of Avignon and Carpentras , but also those of Orange and Apt , which previously belonged to the Bouches-du-Rhône department, as well as the canton of Sault , which belonged to

374-536: The arrival of the popes in Avignon , the culture of silk was introduced to the region. Gradually, the culture of mulberry developed, and its leaves served as food for the silkworms . The religious wars affected some of the villages on the southern foothills of the massif. Cabrières-d'Avignon thus got razed during the massacre of the Vaudois of the Luberon . Between 1720 and 1722 the papal army tried to prevent

396-626: The foothills of the massif. The Romans used the Fontaine de Vaucluse . Until the middle of the 3rd century, the major regional industry was that of iron, with rich soils in Roussillon , Gargas , Rustrel , and several other towns. There are artisanal stoves from Fontaine-de-Vaucluse to the ones in Simiane-la-Rotonde . In the 11th century, “ castrums ” were created (perched fortifications around which villages developed). With

418-402: The installation of nuclear silos . Only 18 silos and 2 fire control stations (PCT) were built (budget restriction) out of the 27 silos and 3 fire control stations that were initially planned (early 1966), i.e. air base (BA200). The construction work ended in 1971. In September 1996, President Jacques Chirac announced the closure and dismantling of the Albion facilities, due to the evolution of

440-431: The quarries and factories. Nowadays the mining of ochre is prohibited here, in order to protect the sites from degradation or even complete destruction. During the 18th century, increasing demand for pigments in the textile industry led to intensified mining of ochres in Roussillon. Numerous quarries and ochre factories, some of which can still be seen today, were situated near the village. One example of an ochre factory,

462-517: The secondary range of Ventoux – the highest point of the massif with an altitude of 1,910 m (6,270 ft) – and of the Lure (1,825 m (5,988 ft)), separated by the plateau of Albion (1,393 m (4,570 ft)). The eastern part is a plateau of medium altitude which fluctuates between 800 and 1,000 m (2,600 and 3,300 ft) and culminates at the signal of Saint-Pierre at 1,256 m (4,121 ft) above sea level. The western part

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484-468: The southern part of the massif. The massif is made up of Mesozoic limestone , often permeable . The water sinks into the rock, creating underground networks ( karstic system), emerging at low points such as the Fontaine de Vaucluse . There are numerous sinkholes, some of the deepest being: There are numerous towns located on the Vaucluse mountains. The 72,660 ha in Vaucluse is put forward with an impressive afforestation rate of up to 40%, and that

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