Mallemort de Provence 2018 TOURIST GUIDE The Village & its Heritage ............…....... P 4 Nature ................................................ P 8 Entertainment .........................…........ P 10 Calendar of festivities ......................... P 16 The Highlights .......................…........... P 18 Discovering Gastronomy …...…...… P 20 Living in Mallemort .....……...…….....……. P 22 Practical side ........….............……...…… P 24 Perched on the banks of the river Durance beneath the Luberon, come and enjoy the peaceful charm of our village, which has been classed «Village fleuri». Mallemort is located in the heart of Provence. It is an ideal location for holidays where you can visit some world famous sites such as Aix-en- Provence and the Mont Sainte-Victoire, Marseille and its «Calanque» bay, Saint-Remy and the Alpilles, Arles and the Camargue, but Mallemort... also the surrounding charming villages of the Luberon. to discover 1 The natural side My holidays in Provence, to Mallemort There is a curious and marvellously complementary duality to Mallemort. The village is proud of its dual personality. It boasts a location in the deepest part of Provence with its quaint old village, traditional events and vast tracts of farmland, all of which contrast to great effect with the Domaine de Pont Royal, a centre for residential tourism with its many accommodations and leisure facilities such as its 18-hole golf course, swimming pools, shops, restaurants, hotels and services in a 47-hectare park! The peaceful village is combined with a The domain side dynamic domain to make a most unusual and very modern provençal village . 2 3 HISTORY OF MALLEMORT, The history of Mallemort remains shrouded in mystery. Some historians Keep trace the name of “Mallemort” back to the Romans, but this is uncertain. The sole remains of the castle belonged What is certain is that the hill known today as Mallemort has been to the bishops of Marseilles who were occupied since Antiquity. its feudal lords from 1260 to 1789, the castle was extensive and covered the Even Julius Caesar may have alluded to a vast hill surrounded by houses in rue Clastres and the former forests in his memoirs. The remains of a Roman rampart and coins were presbytery. discovered not far from the hill. The castle was destroyed and pillaged Our oldest medieval sources indicate that the earliest lord of the area during the revolution. Its stones were was Pontius de Malamorte, first consul to the Counts of Provence in used to build houses in Mallemort. 1150. Mallemort was a fair-sized village at the time. Knights Hospitaller of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem owned vast Table map tracts of land around Mallemort along with a hospital and chapel. Some The map is located at the castle base of their buildings were linked by underground passages which connected where visitors can enjoy an outstanding at the bottom of the district des Estrayas. view of the Durance valley, the Luberon and the Alpilles. When it’s clear, you can The village’s status changed significantly in 1257 following an exchange even see the Alpes de Haute Provence! by Count Berenguer of Provence, which placed the village under the ecclesiastical dominion of the bishops of Marseilles. Saint Peter’s oratory The lord bishops established a large Jewish colony around their castle to Located at the intersection of avenue encourage trade. Flourishing trade in Mallemort during the Middle Ages Joliot Curie and avenue Charles de can be attributed to the presence of a ferry that crossed the Durance Gaulle not far from the village centre, river. Especially through the breeding of silkworms which gives it the the oratory is the oldest in the village status of the most productive department in silk farming. and one of the oldest in the entire department. It is in pure Henri II style Thanks to growing trade and extensive farming, Mallemort became a and dates back to 1548. prized location. Farms gradually grew and became prosperous. Between 1950 and 1970 there were 200 farms in the area! Today, only some 50 remain and the village has turned to another sector, tourism, with the creation of the Domaine de Pont Royal. Water in Provence France’s 16th century engineering genius, Adam de Craponne, created a remarkable irrigation system for the Crau and lower Durance that turned the plain into a fertile VILLAGE & centre for agriculture. His canals saved the valley from the summer droughts of its Mediterranean environment. It was thanks to the creation of the canal of Boisgelin in around 1770 that Mallemort enjoyed an easy and widespread access to water. 4 HERITAGE 5 The tourist office offers you a walking ORIGINS… trail to discover The origin of the name «Mallemort» was set originated from the place where the the old village. in ink on numerous occasions ... many ver- Sainte-Marie Church was built, in the ce- sions exist. While it is certain that the name metery, on the Podium Sanguinolentum. In an hour, you will of the village «seems to bear the imprint of Difficult to access in the past for travellers, see our village’s a fatal past”, it is indeed delicate to affirm this fatal name would have been given to that one version is more legitimate than ano- the village. wealth. ther, even if some seem more plausible than others. The different names throughout time: • PODIUM SANGUINOLENTUM, • MALAMORS-OR MALA-MORS (1092) • CASTRUM OF MALAMORTE - OR MALA-MORTE (1231) MALAMOUERT, • MALAMOUART- OR MALEMORT (16th century -XVI CENTURY)- MALAMORS. MALA-MORS, a third version would be lin- The name derives from a legend which in- ked to the battle of Marius in the 2nd century dicated that gangs, established in the fo- BC. Julius Caesar who would have pursued rests around the village, attacked travellers, the invaders Cimbres and Teutons as far as VILLAGE inflicting on them a «bad death.» With regard the banks of the Durance, inflicting the «mala Pop to this theory, although plausible, it remains mors» on them. Several studies researched completely unidentifiable. of the battle of Aquae Sextiae (Aix-en-Pro- quizz ! vence) show that the Roman and Teutonic PODIUM SANGUINOLENTUM, given as armies have actually passed through the A PATCHWORKWhat do you think is the the first name of Mallemort in all the tou- region of Mallemort. origin of the name rist guides of the village, this curious name Saint Michel “Mallemort”? was also found in the Annales de la Sainte Legend has it that since then the village of church Eglise d’Aix, a work by J-S Pitton, a histo- Mallemort has been called Mala-Mors in me- Podium sanguinolentum rian renowned for his reliability. This deno- mory of the fate which the victors reserved Mala mors mination dates from the Middle Ages, and for their enemies, «which would perhaps Built from 1751 to 1756 a classical Malamorte explain the somewhat lugubrious coat of style, the church was originally situated arms of our community.» To summarise, if on the site of the current cemetery at Where would you find the the concept of Male-Death is at the origin of the top of the village. It replaced the Mallemort dragon? the name of the village, it could be applied old church which had become too old, to events linked to killings, massacres and On the banks of the the new church was built in the heart Durance river tortures of all kinds, an epidemic of plague of the village. At the top of the bell dating from 590 And for more than a decade tower, the patron saint figures on the At the top of the steeple or even battles, all before the eleventh cen- summit of the steeple in a weathervane In the underground tury, when we know with certainty that the reminiscent of Saint Michael’s fight ? village is called Mallemort. caverns of the Knights with its representation, a dragon. Hospitaller 6 7 Suspension bridge Built between 1844 and 1848 by order of King Louis-Philippe, the bridge is 320 metres long with a wooden floor 6.2 metres wide. It was swept away the first time by a flood of the Durance in 1872 and then again in 1880, 1882 and 1886. The 1886 flood severely weakened the right-hand pier. The bridge was rebuilt from 1887 to 1892 and remained intact until 1940 when it was seriously damaged by bombardments. It is currently in a completely unique state of conservation because it is a particularly fine example of suspension bridge architecture of the time. In 1980 a new bridge was built alongside the old one. It is worth noting that those crossing the old bridge by car or bicycle were always rather anxious, as the wooden floor was unstable and undulated – especially The Durance river runs beneath when the mistral blew! A bird’s paradise! NATURE The EDF dam created a stretch of water with a multitude of wildlife. There are many migratory and non-migratory birds along the banks of the Durance Reminders – over 200 species in total! – including grey herons, great cormorants and other • Don’t forget your binoculars! more unexpected migratory species such as the osprey and the purple heron. • Swimming is forbidden • Do not get too close to the bank. The waters rise surprisingly fast… WHEN ? TO CONTACT EDF The best times for bird watching at about the Durance’s flow January/February and April/May Mornings 0800 87 18 34 WHERE ? Along the Durance on the bank facing Mallemort in the secure area WITH WHOM ? All the family! 8 9 FISHING WALK ALONG THE DURANCE... For all Enthusiasts … LAKE- TROUT FISHING Lake devoted to trout fishing with unlimited catches. Package a day or PLEASE NOTE half-day.