Porquerolles (; ), also known as the Île de Porquerolles, is an island in the Îles d'Hyères, Var,

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Its land area is and in 2004, its population has been about 200. Porquerolles, the largest and most westerly of the Îles d'Hyères, is about long by wide, with five small ranges of hills. The south coast is lined with cliffs, and on the north coast are the port and the beaches of Notre Dame, La Courtade and Plage d'Argent.

History

Porquerolles vue du ciel - Anse de la Courtade

The island's village was established in 1820, with its lighthouse constructed in 1837 and church in 1850. The entire island was purchased in 1912 by François Joseph Fournier, apparently as a wedding present for his wife; he planted of

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s, which produced a wine that was among the first to be classified as ''vin des Côtes de Provence''. In 1971, the state bought 80 percent of the island to preserve it from development. Much of the island is now part of a national park (the '' Port-Cros Parc National'') and nature conservation area ('' Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles''). Porquerolles is the setting for

Georges Simenon Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer who created the fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most prolific and successful authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 ...

's novels '' Le Cercle des Mahé'' ("The Mahe Circle") (1946) and '' My Friend Maigret'' (''My Friend Maigret'') (1949) and for the 1964 novel ''Valparaiso'' by Nicolas Freeling. Some scenes of the film ''Pierrot le fou'', by Jean-Luc Godard (1965) were filmed in Porquerolles. Since 2010, the island also hosts a jazz festival each summer ("Jazz à Porquerolles").

Climate

Porquerolles has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Porquerolles is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Porquerolles was on 7 August 2003; the lowest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1956.

Points of interest

* Conservatoire botanique national méditerranéen de Porquerolles * Port-Cros Parc National

References

Site officiel de Porquerolles

Port-Cros Parc National
Car-free islands of Europe Îles d'Hyères Landforms of Var (department) Populated places established in 1820 Tourist attractions in Var (department) French Riviera Mediterranean islands Islands of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur {{Var-geo-stub