LES BAUX DE PROVENCE: the star of the Alpilles.

The visit of this surprising village, which develops on an immense rocky spur, shaped as a vessel, is a must.
Classified among the most beautiful villages of France, and labelled “remarkable site of the taste”, its historical highlights and the qualities of its local productions (wine and olive oil), make it worth of a particular interest. “In les Baux, greatness has charm and charm is full of greatness." (André Suarez, letter to Antoine Bourdelle).
The village is dominated by the vestiges of the castle of Les Baux family, (before one of the most powerful families of Provence), which claimed to be descended from Balthazar, one of the Wise Men.
The paved streets of the village lined with Medieval and Renaissance houses, lead to the church St Vincent.
Its stained glasses windows were donated by Prince Rainier of Monaco. One of his ancestors was made Marquis of les Baux, in 1642, by the king of France, to thank him for services rendered to the French Kingdom.

In the 19th century, a new ore was discovered in les Baux, and it was named after the place : “bauxite”. Old stones quarries have been converted into cellars or tourists sites, such as the famous Cathedral of Images, today called "carrières de Lumières" : quarries of lights.