Montagne Sainte-Victoire ( Provençal oc, Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and oc, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri, label=none according to Mistralian orthography) is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

mountain ridge in the south of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

which extends over between the

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

and Var. Its highest point is the ''Pic des mouches'' at ; this is not however the highest point in Bouches-du-Rhône, which is instead found in the Sainte-Baume massif. The '' Croix de Provence'' is a notable feature of the mountain. At a height of 19 metres, this cross, although not placed at the highest point of the mountain, stands out from the ridge far more than the Pic des Mouches. The mountain is celebrated for its many appearances in a series of paintings by

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

(1839–1906), who could see it from near his house in nearby Aix-en-Provence. Croix de Provence Sainte Victoire

History and tourism

Originally called ''montagne de la Victoire'', the mountain became known by

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

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 ...

as ''Sainte-Venture''. In the 13th century, a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

was constructed at the summit. It was not until the 17th century that the mountain gained its current name. In 1989 a fire ravaged over 50 square kilometres of the mountain's south face. Much work has been done to promote

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands ( forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A de ...

, but the amount of vegetation, particularly

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

, remains much less than it was prior to the fire. Access to the mountain is now largely restricted during the summer. However, during the periods of free access, the Saint-Victoire massif is a popular destination for

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'p ...

and, to a lesser extent,

caving Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology i ...

. Around 700,000 walkers use its paths every year.

Artists

In addition to Cézanne, Montagne Saint-Victoire has been a source of inspiration for other artists, for example: * It makes an appearance in the 1454 painting ''Coronation of the Virgin'' by

Enguerrand Quarton Enguerrand Quarton (or Charonton) ( 1410 – 1466) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherlan ...

. * The painter

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, who bought the

Château de Vauvenargues A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

, situated at the foot of the mountain, and installed a studio there between 1959 and 1962 * The painter

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

* The painter André Masson (1896-1987) in ''The Red Lands and the Montagne Sainte Victoire'', 1948 (Les Terres rouges et la Montagne Ste Victoire) * The writer

Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored t ...

with ''The Lesson of Sainte-Victoire'' (1980) * The writer Guy Gavriel Kay with ''

Ysabel ''Ysabel'' is a fantasy novel by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was first published in January 2007 by Viking Canada. It is Kay's first urban fantasy and his first book set outside his fantasied Europe milieux since the publication of his ...

'' (2007) * The version by painter

Mark Tansey Mark Tansey (born 1949) is an American painter. Life Tansey had an early introduction to art. These early childhood experiences had a profound effect on Tansey's painting style from the inception of his career as an artist. Many of Tansey's pa ...

(1987), "the soldiers of poststructuralism and deconstruction---Jean Baudrillard (seated second from left), Barthes (recumbent, lighting a cigarette), and Derrida (standing, removing his overcoat)---disrobe in the shadow of Cézanne's mountain. Shedding their uniforms, they are transformed in their reflections into women. The men on the shore (at left) are flanked by the arching trees of Cézanne's 1906 ''Bathers''. All appear engulfed in the mucky depths of Plato's cave. Aided by Derrida's 1978 book ''Spurs: Nietzsche's Styles'', Tansey explores the nature of representation through the study of transformation." These are..."optimistically suggestive of the possibilities other than those suggested by Greenberg and his cohorts."

References

External links

*
Official site
*

360° video of the Mount Sainte Victoire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Victoire Mountains of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Landforms of Var (department) Mountains of the Alps