The Alpilles ( , ) is a small range of low mountains in

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 ...

, located about south of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, 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 Communes of France, commune had a ...

Geography

The range is an extension of the much larger

Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, 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 mounta ...

range. Although it is not high – some 498 m (1,634 ft) at its highest point – the Alpilles range stands out impressively, as it rises abruptly from the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

valley and from the very flat alluvial plain of

Crau The Crau is the ancient confluence of the Durance and Rhône, and constitutes their vast flat alluvial fan. Agriculture The Crau is composed of two different parts: The dry Crau is in the south, and has been used as pasture from Roman times. T ...

. The range is about 25 km long by about 8 to 10 km wide, running in an east–west direction between the Rhône and

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 .limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

peaks separated by dry valleys. Alpilles topographic map-fr

Communes

The Chaîne des Alpilles is part of the territory of 15

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Aureille Aureille (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southern France. The commune has been awarded one flower by the ''National Council of Towns a ...

Les Baux-de-Provence Les Baux-de-Provence (; "Les Baux of Provence"; Provençal: ''Lei Bauç de Provença'' or ''Li Baus de Prouvènço'' ), commonly referred to simply as Les Baux, is a rural commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-C� ...

Eygalières Eygalières (; Provençal: ''Aigalieras'' or ''Eigaliero'' ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Southern France. In 2020, it had a population of 1,730. Demographics See also * Alp ...

Eyguières Eyguières (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône d ...

, Fontvieille, Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles,

Maussane-les-Alpilles Maussane-les-Alpilles (; ; Provençal: ''Maussano lis Aupiho'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in Southern France. Part of Alpilles Regional Natural Park,Mouriès Mouriès (; , ) is a commune in France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in southern France. Population Economy Mouriès is known for its olive oil production, calling itself "the olive oil capital of Fra ...

Paradou Paradou (, also ''Le Paradou''; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also * Alpilles * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bo ...

Orgon Orgon (; ancient: ''Urgonum'', or ''Castrum de Urgone'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Vaucluse, which follows the ...

Saint-Étienne-du-Grès Saint-Étienne-du-Grès (; Provençal: ''Sant Estève dau Gres'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. The commune was created in 1935 from part of Tarascon. It is si ...

Saint-Martin-de-Crau Saint-Martin-de-Crau (; Provençal: ''Sant Martin de Crau'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Martinois''. Population Saint-Martin-de-Crau has the lowest population density ...

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; "Saint-Rémy of Provence"; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department ...

Sénas Sénas (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consistin ...

Tarascon Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Tara ...

Flora and fauna

The lower slopes are planted with

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

and

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

trees.

Kermes oak ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak or commonly known as Palestine oak, is an oak shrub or tree in section '' Ilex'' of the genus. It has many synonyms, including ''Quercus calliprinos''. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern ...

s and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s also grow there. Much of the range is bare rock or stony ground covered with scrub and maquis. The highest parts of the range are a nature reserve inhabited by a number of rare species, including

Bonelli's eagle Bonelli's eagle (''Aquila fasciata'') is a large bird of prey. The common name of the bird commemorates the Italian ornithologist and collector Franco Andrea Bonelli. Bonelli is credited with gathering the type specimen, most likely from an expl ...

, the

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa ...

and

eagle owl The American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for owl. This genus contains 10 species that are found in many pa ...

. .

History

Some

protohistorical Protohistory is the period between prehistory and written history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures that have developed writing have noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their ...

settlements have been found in the Alpilles. In the very old village of Les Baux de Provence, a cave was used 8000 years ago.

Conservation

The Parc Naturel Régional des Alpilles was created on January 30, 2007. It covers the territory of 16 communes. The area is also under the protection of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

Environmental Protection Plan of the European Union.

The Alpilles in arts

The Alpilles were immortalized in art by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

, who painted many images of the Alpilles' landscapes during his time in

on the north side of the mountains. One of the paintings was given by van Gogh to his friend

Eugène Boch Eugène Boch (1 September 1855 – 3 January 1941) was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Vaast, La Louvière, Hainaut. He was the younger brother of Anna Boch, the only female member of Les XX. Life Eugène Boch was born into the fifth generat ...

.http://www.eugeneboch.com More about the Alpilles painting by Vincent van Gogh

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ' ...

's 1885 novel '' Tartarin sur les Alpes'', which is a sequel to the 1872 ''

Tartarin de Tarascon ''Tartarin of Tarascon'' () is an 1872 novel written by the French author Alphonse Daudet. Synopsis The Provençal town of Tarascon is so enthusiastic about hunting that no game lives anywhere near it, and its inhabitants resort to telling hunt ...

'', takes place in the Alpilles.

References

{{Coord, 43, 45, 00, N, 4, 50, 00, E, type:adm2nd_region:FR, display=title Mountain ranges of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests