The Luberon ( or ; Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

in central

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of and an area of about . It is composed of three

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

s (from west to east): Lesser Luberon (''Petit Luberon''), Greater Luberon (''Grand Luberon'') and Eastern Luberon (''Luberon oriental''). The valleys north and south of them contain a number of towns and villages as well as agricultural land; the northern part is marked by the

Calavon The Calavon (; also called ''le Coulon'') is an long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse '' départements'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .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 .acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...

on top of the "e"); some dictionaries justify that the two spellings are interchangeable. The total number of inhabitants varies greatly between winter and summer, due to a massive influx of tourists during the warm season. It is a favourite destination for French high society and British and American visitors because of the pleasant and picturesque towns and villages, comfortable way of life, agricultural wealth, historical and cultural associations, as well as hiking trails.

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

notably lived in Cave Bonelly, a vineyard near to

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the last two decades the Luberon has become known in the English-speaking world especially through a series of books by British author Peter Mayle chronicling his life as an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

settled in the Luberon village of Ménerbes. These are titled ''

A Year in Provence A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'', ''Toujours Provence'' and ''Encore Provence''. Another of Mayle's books, a novel set in the Luberon, was made into a film called '' A Good Year'' (2006) directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

, starring

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

and filmed in the region.

Flora and fauna

Luberon is particularly rich in biological diversity. There are known to be around 1,500 species of plants, accounting for 30% of the flora and fauna in France, 17,000 species and sub-species of insects with almost 2,300 species of Lepidoptera, or nearly 40% of species living in France, 341 species and subspecies of vertebrate wildlife, 135 species of birds and 21 species of bats or 70% of species present in France. Among the 1,500 different species of plants, there are 700 species and sub-species of higher plants and 200 species of lichens. Rich

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

deposits are also preserved here, documenting for example ancient species related to

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

s, as well as an ancestral

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

. Image:Snake (Elaphe scalaris) by JM Rosier.JPG, Ladder snake Image:Habichtsadler.jpg, Bonelli's eagle Image:Circaetus gallicus 01.JPG, Short-toed snake eagle, the largest bird of prey of the Luberon Image:Dectique à front blanc.jpg, Southern Wartbiter

Nuclear facilities

The ''

Force de frappe The ''Force de dissuasion'' (), known as the ''Force de frappe'' ('Strike Force') prior to 1961,Gunston, Bill. Bombers of the West. New York: Charles Scribner's and Sons; 1973. p104 is the French nuclear deterrence force. The ''Force de dissua ...

'' or French strategic nuclear arsenal used to be located on the Plateau d'Albion before being dismantled in the late 1980s. Now, the underground site where the missile controls were located is a public multidisciplinary laboratory of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, the Low Noise Underground Laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel, Pays d'Apt.Low Noise Underground Laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel, Pays d'Apt

Communes in the Parc naturel régional du Luberon

In Vaucluse

* Ansouis * Apt, small town near the eastern end of the Luberon valley * La Bastide-des-Jourdans * La Bastidonne * Beaumettes * Beaumont-de-Pertuis * Bonnieux * Buoux *

Cabrières-d'Aigues Cabrières-d'Aigues (; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Cabrièras d'Egues'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. ...

* Cadenet * Caseneuve *

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

, small town at the western entrance to the Luberon valley * Cheval-Blanc *

Cucuron Cucuron () is a village (Communes of France, commune) in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department, of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region, in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Cucuronnais''. Located on ...

* Gargas *

Gordes Gordes (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The residents are known as ''Gordiens.'' The nearest big city is Avignon; smaller cities nearby include Cavaillon, L'Isle-s ...

* Goult * Grambois * Joucas *

Lacoste Lacoste S.A. (; ) is a French designer sports fashion company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur André Gillier. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The ...

* Lagarde-d'Apt * Lauris * Lioux *

Lourmarin Lourmarin (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Lourmarinois''. Geography Lourmarin is located in the French region of Provence, at the foot o ...

* Maubec * Ménerbes * Mérindol * Mirabeau * Murs *

Oppède Oppède (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. ''Oppidum'' is the Latin word for 'fortified town'. History It ...

Pertuis Pertuis (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in Vaucluse, a Departments of France, department in the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, south of the Luberon. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, and a castle was first b ...

* Peypin-d'Aigues * Puget * Puyvert * Robion *

* Rustrel * Saignon * Saint-Martin-de-Castillon * Saint-Martin-de-la-Brasque * Saint-Pantaléon * Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt * Sannes * Taillades *

La Tour-d'Aigues La Tour-d'Aigues (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Southeastern France. Geography The town is located at the south of the Grand Luberon, away from Pertuis. It is the capital town of the Pa ...

* Vaugines * Viens * Villars * Villelaure * Vitrolles-en-Luberon

In Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

* Aubenas-les-Alpes * La Brillanne * Céreste * Dauphin * Forcalquier * Limans *

Lurs The Lurs, Lors or Luris () are an Iranian people living in western and southern Iran. The four Luri branches are the Bakhtiari, Mamasani, Kohgiluyeh and Lur proper, who are principally linked by the Luri language. Lorestan province is name ...

Manosque Manosque (; Provençal Occitan: ''Manòsca'' in classical norm or ''Manosco'' in Mistralian norm) is the largest town and commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. However, it is not the ''préfecture'' (capital ...

* Montfuron * Montjustin * Niozelles * Oppedette * Pierrerue * Pierrevert * Reillanne * Revest-des-Brousses * Saint-Maime * Saint-Martin-les-Eaux * Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire * Sainte-Tulle * Vachères * Villemus * Villeneuve *

Volx Volx (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Population See also * Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC * Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provenç ...

Golden triangle of Luberon

* Bonnieux, village on the border between the Little and Big Luberon *

, facing the Luberon, this village is considered the top of the Golden Triangle (the base being made by the Little Luberon mountains) * Goult, perched on a hill in the middle of the valley of the Luberon *

and the ancient castle of the uncle of "le Marquis de Sade" * Ménerbes *

with its historic section perched on the hillside Oppède-le-Vieux *

, like Goult, perched on a hill within the Luberon valley

Southern Luberon

, village on the border between Little and Big Luberon *

* Pavillon de Galon

References

External links

Discover the Luberon on Notreprovence.fr in EnglishAerial photos LuberonPhoto essay - Experience the Luberon
{{Western Alps Geography of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Geography of Vaucluse Biosphere reserves of France Global Geoparks Network members Geoparks in France Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia