Cucuron
| Cucuron | ||
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| region | Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur | |
| Department | Vaucluse | |
| Arrondissement | Apt | |
| Canton | Cheval-Blanc | |
| Community association | Territorial South Luberon | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 46 ' N , 5 ° 26' E | |
| height | 235-1,105 m | |
| surface | 32.68 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,766 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 54 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 84160 | |
| INSEE code | 84042 | |
| Website | mairie-cucuron.fr | |
 View of the roofs of Cucuron |
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Cucuron is a French commune with 1,766 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Vaucluse in the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur .
geography
Cucuron is located in the southeast of the Vaucluse department and is surrounded by the municipalities of Vaugines , Ansouis , Sannes , Cabrières-d'Aigues , Auribeau and Sivergues . The closest towns are Pertuis in the southeast ( 10 km ) and Apt in the north ( 12 km ).
The Luberon Mountains rise to the north of the commune . The municipality is part of the Luberon Regional Nature Park .
traffic
Several départementales routes intersect in the center of the village . The D56 and D27 lead west to Vaugines and Lourmarin, respectively . The D27 continues southeast to Sannes, while the D56 branches off to the south to Ansouis. The D182 goes south to the Durance and meets the larger east-west connection D973. The D189 leads to the neighboring town of Cabrières-d'Aigues to the east.
history
In the first century BC there was an important Gallo-Roman settlement in Cucuron . This is indicated by a Roman villa in the Viely district and a mausoleum in the Pourrières district, discovered around 1970 and exhibited in the Marc Deydier Museum.
The medieval town center, which the Reillanne-Valence family built around a fortified hill, was built in the eleventh century. Thanks to its favorable location on trade routes and the salt route , the city grew rapidly, so that in the thirteenth century it reached the limits of its second walling . Another city wall had to be built. During the Huguenot Wars , the well-secured city center of Cucuron had to prove itself as a Catholic enclave surrounded by Protestant villages. A third of the population was wiped out during the Great Plague of 1720. In the nineteenth century, the rural exodus that accompanied economic decline exacerbated the population decline . Only at the time of the First World War was the economy able to recover, which from then on concentrated on growing wine and vegetables .
Place name
According to a legend , the place name goes back to Caesar , who is said to have called out to the fleeing inhabitants: Cucurrunt? ("Why are they running?").
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 1,033 | 1,177 | 1,206 | 1,409 | 1,624 | 1,792 | 1,814 | 1,781 |
Culture and sights
The locality of Cucuron is at the foot of the Grand Luberon and is a typical example of a Provencal village: the streets are circular around the center, where the church and medieval houses are located. The development of the city changed little by little, similar to Ansouis, with the construction of the new city wall. The beautiful uniform structure, including the roofs, gives the village an authenticity that is also appreciated by filmmakers. The location is considered the setting for films such as The Hussar on the Roof (1995) by Jean-Paul Rappeneau based on the novel of the same name by Jean Giono and A Good Year (2005) by Ridley Scott .
Some remains of the former fortifications are still visible today. The belfry was built in 1540 on a gate of the city wall from the 13th century and is crowned by a small lantern and a holy cross . The insect below the cross is a weevil , as there is a phrase that says: quand le charencon est dans le clocher, il n'est pas dans les blés ("If the weevil is in the tower, it is not in the grain "). The clock tower symbolizes the early independence of the city, which benefited from the financial difficulties of its landlord and bought some of its rights in the 14th century.
The most interesting remains of the fortification are the two gates Portail de Cabrières and Portail de Ginoux and a tower, the Tour Ronde Suspous , all of which are located within the third ring, which was built between 1545 and 1548. Along the narrow streets through the village there are many remarkable houses from the 14th to 18th centuries, some of which still have the plaster decoration ( gypserie ), such as the town house Bérard du Roure (current Mairie ).
Notre-Dame-de-Beaulieu
The parish church of Cucuron was built in the 13th century to cope with the rapid population growth. It is located on a hill above the village and is equipped with a 24 meter high bell tower from the 16th century. The church and the steeple play an important role in the maypole festival, which is celebrated on the penultimate Saturday in May . The young locals cut a large poplar tree and carry it in procession in front of the church, where it is planted and has to be taller. The custom is observed in honor of Saint Tullia , the patron saint of the village, who saved the inhabitants from the plague in 1720 .
Marc-Deydier Museum
The Bouliers townhouse, built in the 18th century, houses the Marc-Deydier Museum, which exhibits various archaeological collections, mainly Roman artifacts . Most of the objects were discovered during excavations in the Luberon massif. A centerpiece of the museum is a stele from the late Bronze Age that was excavated in the municipality. It shows the depiction of a warrior, symbolized by his helmet, sword and shield and around 1000 BC. Lived. No other stele of this type is known in Western Europe.
The museum also has daguerreotype plates taken between 1890 and 1900 by Marc Deydier, who worked as a notary in Cucuron and was also interested in history and archeology. Some of the exhibits are dedicated to rural life in the early 20th century.
Others
The artificial extinguishing water pond to the north of the city wall was originally created in the 16th century to supply three flour mills. It is surrounded by a row of plane trees and is used as a shady place to relax in summer.
An educational wine trail leads from the premises of the winegrowers' cooperative through vineyards and olive gardens .
In the municipality of Cucuron there is an excavation site of the Luberon Geological Natural Park . It was discovered by Marc Deydier in the red clay and excavated by the paleontologist André Gaudry. Hundreds of bones from very different vertebrate species have been discovered: rhinos , gazelles , deinotheria (relatives of the elephant), giant tortoises and canines of saber-toothed tigers . In addition, the almost completely preserved skeleton of a Hipparion (small, primitive three-toed horse) was recovered.
literature
- Michel Albarède among others: Vaucluse (= Encyclopédies du Voyage ). Gallimard Loisirs, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-7424-1900-5 , pp. 289-291 .
- Marie-Christine Mansuy among others: Parc Naturel Régional du Luberon (= Encyclopédies du Voyage ). Gallimard Loisirs, Paris 2010, ISBN 978-2-7424-2737-6 , pp. 128-129 .
Web links
- Mairie website (French)
- Official website of the Tourist Office (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The community on annuaire-mairie.fr
- ↑ a b c Michel Albarède and others: Vaucluse. 2007, p. 291.
- ↑ Michel Albarède and others: Vaucluse. 2007, pp. 289-290.
- ^ Cony Ziegler: Provence with Camargue. Travel book publisher Iwanowski. 2nd updated edition. Dormagen 2009, ISBN 978-3-933041-54-8 , p. 340.
- ↑ a b c d Marie-Christine Mansuy et al: Luberon. 2010, p. 128.
- ↑ a b c Michel Albarède and others: Vaucluse. 2007, p. 290.
- ^ Marie-Christine Mansuy et al: Luberon. 2010, pp. 128–129.
- ^ Marie-Christine Mansuy et al: Luberon. 2010, p. 129.