Outdoor Activities in Entrechaux

Entrechaux

Entrechaux Overview Places to go Outdoor activities The Vaucluse department is one of the most beautiful, historically richest an culturally most active department of France. One says in the Vaucluse beats the heart of Pro- vence. An area sculptured by mountains (Mont Ventoux 1912 m, Dentelles de Mont- mirail, Montagne de Luberon) with vast planes and green hills. Wineries, evergreen oaks and pines, flowering fruit trees lend the landscape its character and invite you to walk,to bike, to ride or just to relax. Hills and mountains cover more than the half area of the department.

Entrechaux , dominated by the ruins of a medieval castle, is situated at the confluent of the river Ouvèze and the river Toulourenc nearby the Mont Ventoux, 7 km away from Vaison-la-Romaine. The area of Entrechaux is part of the canton of Malaucène and be- longs to the arrondissement of Carpentras.

Climate

The majority of the department is considered to be under the influence of a Mediter- ranean climate, characterised by a long, usually hot and dry summer and a mild hu- mid winter. Sunshine: About 90 percent of the possible sunshine in summer and 50 to 60 percent even during the rainy winter season. Olive, figs and vine are the native fruits of the Mediterranean climate which are well adapted to drought conditions. Prehistory The Entrechaux area is located in the Vocontian Basin (named after the Vocontii, a Celtic tribe of the Gallic province of Narbonensis who lived on the east bank of the Rhone). In Jurassic and Cretaceous times the Vocontian Basin was a gulf, bounded to the West by the ‘Massif Central’ and to the East by the Alpine chain. The basin attained its maximum depth (500 to 800 m, other authors argued that it may have been more than 2000 m deep) in the Early Cretaceous. In the Middle Paleolithic (before about 40’000 years ago) Neanderthals lived in the caves located on the banks of the Ouvèze River.

History The region of Entrechaux was inhabited by Ligures since Neolithic times and by Celtics, more precisely by the Vocontii, since about 900 BC. The Vocontii territory was distribu- ted over five departments: Drôme, Isère, Haute-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse. A sepulchral inscription found in Entrechaux and now built into the doorway of the chapel Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth seems to date back to celtic times.

The village of Entrechaux was first mentioned in the year 1108 namely in a letter from the Pope which confirmed the possession of half of Entrechaux to the bishop of Vaison- la-Romaine. The ruins of Entrechaux castle What particularly strikes one, whichever route you take, is the importance of the site. The ruins of Entrechaux castle dominate the valleys. Perched on a rocky peak the origin of the castle goes back to the 10th or 11th centuries. No document mentions details about the first occupants.

Pierre II, Bishop of Vaison, received the gift of half of Entrechaux from Geoffroy, Count of Provence and his brother Bertrand. For about 450 years the Bishops of Vaison are co-seigneurs.

Bands of robbers marked the beginning of the destruction and looting of the castle in 1792. The sale of blocks of stone by the municipalities and vandalism have completed the destruction. The castle was determinated to be a stone quarry. Places to go in Entrechaux The ruins of Entrechaux castle

The former church Saint-Laurent built in the 15th century and leaning against the curtain wall, has recently been very carefully restored.

The romanesque chapels Notre Dame de Nazareth built in the 10th or 11th century and restored in the 19th century The chapel Saint-André dated to the Merovingian period The chapel Saint-Laurent built in the 11th century

The Romanesque Bridge over the Ouvèze river: popular river bathing location Outdoor activities in Entrechaux Cycling, hiking, climbing, tennis, fishing, river bathing Botanical trail (along the bank of the Ouvèze river, follow the arrows ‘Espace bota- nique’) Fitness trail (along the bank of the Ouvèze river)