Little jewel at the foot of the mounts of Vaucluse, the village of Fontaine de Vaucluse and its spring is a not to be missed site in Provence !
This village was an inspiration for Petrarc and many other poets, writers, painters...
The spring today maintains the mystery of its origins.
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, is a small village of about 700 inhabitants, which was built in this “Closed Valley” between Gordes and l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, at the foot of one of the most important springs in the world, by its volume of water flow: no less than 630 million m3 per year.
If we know now that this water comes from an immense 1240km2 underground lake which fills with rain water and the melting of the snow south of the Mont Ventoux, of the Mounts of Vaucluse and the Mountain of Lure, its capricious flow is still not understood: very low in summer, the Fountain inflates and has tumultuous cascades after heavy rains.
As early as the end of the 19th century, researchers, spelunkers, divers and adventurers of all kinds would attempt to discover the origin of this spring. Commandant Cousteau’s team would come three times to explore, first in 1946, it dove up to 80 times in 1955 and came back in 1967 with a specifically designed machine for this abyss, the “Telenaute” going down thus to -106 meters.
Another exploration machine called the Sorgonaute was constructed in the 1980s, it reaches -245 meters.
In1993, for the TV show Ushuaia, Nicolas Hulot dove to –40m.
A very pretty winter excursion.
One must visit the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse at the end of the winter, after heavy rains... One is fascinated by the spectacle offered by nature, the water bouncing from rock to rock to end up in a vast surface with crystal transparence in the heart of the old village.
If the houses of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse are so high and imposing, it is because they are often former factories which used the driving force of water to activate the paper mills, make crystal or electricity depending on the era...
Plaisirs et Maisons de Provence proposes a stay near Fontaine de Vaucluse, in a vacation rental with pool in the Luberon or in a rental with pool in all Provence.
