Nestling at the foot of the Vaucluse mountains, the village of Fontaine de Vaucluse and its spring is a must-see in Provence!
This village was a place of inspiration for Petrarch and many other poets, writers, painters, etc.
The spring still retains the mystery of its origins.
What is the secret of the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse spring?
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is a small village of around 700 inhabitants, built in the ‘Vallée Close’ between Gordes and Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, at the foot of one of the world’s largest springs in terms of the volume of water it flows: no less than 630 million m3 per year!
Although we now know that this water comes from an immense underground ‘lake’ covering 1,240 km2, which fills up with rainwater and snowmelt from the south of Mont Ventoux, the Monts de Vaucluse and the Montagne de Lure, we still don’t understand its capricious flow: very low in summer, the Fountain swells and bounces back in tumultuous cascades after heavy rain.
Over a century of research to unravel the mystery...
Since the end of the 19th century, researchers, speleologists, divers and adventurers of all kinds have been trying to discover the source of this spring. Captain Cousteau’s team explored the chasm three times, first in 1946, then diving up to 80 times in 1955 and returning in 1967 with a device specifically designed to explore the chasm, the ‘Télénaute’, descending to a depth of -106 metres.
Another exploration device, called the Sorgonaute, was built in the 1980s, enabling a depth of -245m to be reached.
In 1993, as part of the Ushuaia TV programme, Nicolas Hulot dived to -40m.
When should you visit the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse?
A lovely winter walk!
You have to visit the village of Fontaine de Vaucluse at the end of winter, after heavy rain… you’ll be fascinated by the spectacle of nature, the gushing water bouncing noisily from rock to rock, to arrive in a vast expanse of crystal-clear water in the heart of the old village.
Did you know?
If the houses in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse are so tall and imposing, it’s because they are often former factories that used the motive power of water to drive paper mills, produce crystal or electricity, depending on the era…
Plaisirs et Maisons de Provence offers you the chance to stay near Fontaine de Vaucluse, in a holiday rental with swimming pool in the Luberon or in a rental with swimming pool throughout Provence.
