Cucuron () is a village ( commune) in the

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label=Provençal 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.department, of the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its prefe ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, in southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Its inhabitants are called ''Cucuronnais''. Located on the south side of the

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 wes ...

mountain range, Cucuron is surrounded by slopes of

grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

and

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'' ...

trees. There are several

cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

in the village, including for wine and olive oil production. The present village dates from earlier than the 11th century and suffered a serious plague epidemic in 1720. Its primary features are a long pond (''l'étang'') that occupies its main square, the ruins of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

, and two churches. Cucuron features in two movies: A Good Year and The Horseman on the Roof (French: Le hussard sur le toit).

Geography

Cucuron is located on the south side of the

mountain range and includes most of the northern slope of the Aigues valley, sloping gently towards the south. The rural district of Cucuron is part of the Luberon Regional Park (''Parc naturel régional du Luberon''). The highest point of the village area is located at its northern end, 1,040 m above sea level, on the crest of the Luberon. The village itself is located on a hill dominating the area, consisting of zaffre, with the highest part of the village proper at 375 m. It is surrounded by slopes of

and vegetable crops, cereals (

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

fields) or abandoned

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

land. The extreme south of the territory is part of the alluvial

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. ...

of the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

period - two sites have been clearly identified and excavated.

Distance from major towns

The times given in brackets are estimates which include part of the journey by motorway where relevant. *

Pertuis Pertuis (; oc, Pertús) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at ...

: 12 km (15 minutes) *

Apt Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...

: 26 km (30 minutes) *

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; Provençal: ''Cavalhon'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

: 28 km (45 minutes) *

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

: 37 km (35 minutes) *

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

: 65 km (55 minutes) *

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune ha ...

: 66 km (1 hour) The villages closest to Cucuron are Ansouis (5 km), Vaugines (2.2 km) and Lourmarin (7.4 km).

Toponymy

Local tradition ascribes the origin of the village name to Julius Caesar, like many

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 France–Italy border, Italian border ...

villages. Caesar, seeing the inhabitants of the place run, was said to have stated the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

phrase ''cur currunt?'' ("Why do they run?"). In fact Cucuron, under various spellings, is a common placename in southern France, meaning a peak, mound. Many localities are so named, as well as various villages:

Coucouron Coucouron (; Auvergnat: ''Cocoron'') is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regio ...

(

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Cuguron Cuguron () is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories i ...

(

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

), Cuqueron (

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...

). The village name derives from the pre-indo-European root "Kuk", which means a place located on a high mountain or a round hill. The village has had various names: ''castro Cucurone'' and ''castro Cucuroau'' in the 11th century, ''in tertitorio Cucuronis, of Cucurun'' in the 12th century, ''Cucuron'' from the 16th century.

History

The

village site was occupied from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

period (at a place called ''Castelas''). During

protohistory 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 ...

, it was on the territory of the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

of Dexcivate, established along the

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 .Conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

graves. A site on the plain, to the south of the village, dates from the

period:

villas Villas may refer to: Places * Villas, Florida, United States * Villas, Illinois, United States * Villas, New Jersey, United States * Las Villas, a region of Spain * Las Villas (Cuba), a former Cuban Province * The Villas, a housing estate in Stok ...

were established there benefiting from the fertile land, with several

burial grounds A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

and a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...

- the Pourrières mausoleum, dates from the 1st century BC. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, a ''castrum'' (castle) was built on the hill by the Reillanne-Valence family: the present village dates from earlier than the 11th century and is quoted for the first time in 1024, under the name of ''castrum cucurone''. The castle passed between the hands of several families of '' seigneurs'' (lords): the ''Sabrans'' in the 12th century, then the ''Castillon'' and the ''Oraison'' in co-seigneurship and finally the Bruni from La Tour-d'Aigues at the end of the 18th century. Meanwhile, a "consulate" was created; the village was consequently administered by "consuls" which controlled the local justices and lower courts. During the late Middle Ages, Cucuron hosted a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community which was officially expelled in 1501. It also accommodated a Vaudois minority, after they repopulated Luberon at the end of the 15th century. In 1534, the archbishop of

executed ten of these 'heretics', which included inhabitants of Cucuron. However, at the time of the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

, Cucuron remained predominantly

catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, unlike the surrounding villages. In 1720-1, the village was hit hard by a plague epidemic which spread from

Coat of arms

The arms are emblazoned with the following:
''

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depi ...

background with a silver tower that has a door and

arrowslit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The interi ...

s. The tower is flanked by two savages with a symmetrical profile, who hold the tower; the one on the right with their right hand, the one on the left with their left hand, their other hands hold a club.'' Cucuron motto: ''cucurrunt sed vixerunt (they ran but they overcame)''

List of mayors

Demographics

The village had almost 1,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 14th century and there were nearly 2,000 on the eve of the

Great Plague of Marseille The Great Plague of Marseille was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe. Arriving in Marseille, France, in 1720, the disease killed a total of 100,000 people: 50,000 in the city during the next two years and another 50,000 t ...

of 1720-1. The deaths caused by the plague, however, led to a sharp decline in population in the 18th century, that decline was compounded in the 19th century with

rural flight Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in th ...

. The inhabitants of the village are called ''Cucuronnais''.

Economy

There are many traders in the village: a grocers, a tobacco shop, two bakeries and a butcher, a pharmacy, restaurants, bars and a hotel. It has had

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

(broadband internet) since January 2005.

Agriculture

The

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

(vineyards) and vegetable crops (

asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified ...

in particular) found on village land, are from post

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The village has several

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

s: one for

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The ...

jam, an agricultural cooperative for wheat and other

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legu ...

s, a viticultural cooperative, and two

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

mills open their doors to olive growers in mid-November. The village produces

Côtes du Luberon AOC Luberon (known as ''Côtes du Luberon'' until 2009) is a French wine-growing AOC in the southeastern extreme of the Rhône wine region of France, where the wines are produced in 36 communes of the Vaucluse département. The neighbouring appellati ...

wines - AOC stands for ''

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (controlled designation of origin). Wines which are not AOC can be labelled, after approval, ''vin de pays d'Aigues''. Like the rest of the surrounding area,

cultivation is growing in Cucuron.

Tourism

As with all municipalities in the Luberon, tourism plays a role, directly or indirectly, in the local economy. There are three main kinds of tourism in the Luberon. Firstly cultural, which relies on a heritage of village hilltops and festivals. Secondly, relaxation tourism which has resulted in a significant development of ''chambres d'hôtes'' (

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

s), hotels and rental properties; a large concentration of swimming pools and provençale markets. Lastly, walking holidays which benefit from the footpaths and protected countryside of the Luberon and surrounding area.

Education

The village has a public elementary school, the pupils are then sent to ''Le Luberon'', a lower secondary school in Cadenet, then ''Val de Durance

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

'' (upper secondary school) in Pertuis (mainstream education) or ''

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

collège In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children betwee ...

'' in

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; Provençal: ''Cavalhon'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

or ''Alphonse Benoit college'' in

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (; oc, L'Illa de Sòrga or ) is a town and commune on the Sorgue river in Southeastern France. Politically, the commune is in the arrondissement of Avignon within the department of Vaucluse, in the région of Provence-A ...

(technical education).

Local life

A market is held on Tuesdays and two major holidays punctuate the life of the village: * the ''votive festival'' takes place at the beginning of July. * the ''Feast of Saint Tulle'' is held on the first Saturday after May 21: the ''l'arbre de mai'' “tree of May” - a poplar is transported by men through the village and tied-up the front side of the church. This commemorates the occasion of the 'intervention of the saint' to put an end to the plague of 1720. Four night markets are held each year between the months of July and August, around l'étang (the pond), generally the last two Fridays of July and the first two of August. Local craftsmen and producers attend these markets. Scenes from the films '' The Horseman on the Roof'' and '' A Good Year'' were filmed in the village.

Places of interest

*Bassin de ''l'étang'' - a large quadrangular basin of water that dates from the beginning of the 14th century, located at the north of the village: it previously supplied a

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile manufacturing, Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the A ...

in the village. *Notre-Dame-de-Beaulieu

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

- partly in Romance style of Provence (13th century), partly in

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages * Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes ** Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoke ...

. *Notre-Dame-de-Beauvoir chapel (early Romanesque), otherwise known as the Hermitage. Initially a small

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

, annex of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, quoted in several wills since 1292. All that remains of the Roman chapel is an arch-shaped vault. The last

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

was later transformed into a dwelling. At the beginning of the 17th century it was maintained by a

confraternity A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are mos ...

who built a bell tower in 1602, a hermitage in 1613 and a new

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

between 1614 and 1620. The chapel became communal property after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

and was restored in 1957, then again in the middle of the 1970s. *Medieval walls, with gates and towers, including the belfry, or “

Clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another build ...

” - 13th-16th centuries. Three successive walls surrounded the city during the Middle Ages. *Ruins of the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and cellars dug into the zaffre - remains of a quadrangular tower of the 14th century, called “Saint-Michel tower”. *16th century olive oil mill, in a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

dug under the

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

s in the south of the village. *

Viticultural Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

cooperative wine shop *Municipal

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

*Marc Deydier

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

, named after a cucuronnais scholar - includes

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

collections of Gallo-Roman and

excavations, local ethnography and history of the village. * The garden of Pavillon de Galon, which was awarded the " Remarkable Garden" label by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual ...

& Environment in 2010. *A cinema named ''Cigalon'' which has approximately 100 seats; it shows French and foreign films.

Popular expression

In the parlance of southern France, the term ''Cucuron-les-Olivettes'' means a remote place, devoid of interest or place that does not exist.

Notable people related to the village

* Jean Joseph Marius Diouloufet (1771–1840), a Provence

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

, died in Cucuron.

References

{{authority control Communes of Vaucluse