Montagnette
| Montagnette | ||
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 Typical flora (low bushes) of the Montagnette |
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| height | 168 m | |
| location | Range of hills between Avignon in the north and Tarascon in the south | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 51 '36 " N , 4 ° 43' 5" E | |
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 View over the range of hills |
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The Montagnette is a range of hills between Avignon in the north and Tarascon in the south in the extreme north-west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department . It is surrounded by the Rhone to the west and south and the Durance to the north .
The montagnette dates back to the Mesozoic , 70 million years ago, and covers an area of 6,000 hectares, two thirds of which are covered by Aleppo pines. A quarter of the mountain range belongs to the municipality of Barbentane , its highest point, the "Mont de Raous" (167 meters) about 800 meters west of the Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Frigolet , but is in the area of the municipality of Boulbon . To the east of the Montagnette, in the area of the parish of Graveson , was the ancient oppidum La Roque, a settlement from the 6th century BC. Chr.
It is likely that the Montagnette served as a military camp for the 10,000 legionnaires of the Roman general Marius when they were in 103 BC. BC waited for the approach of the Cimbri and Teutons . Likewise, in the year 218 BC Chr. The here Carthaginian forces of Hannibal be pulled through with its 300 elephants when they were on their way to Rome.
The area of around 6,000 ha, which has been planted mainly with Aleppo pines since the beginning of the 20th century, was destroyed several times by fires and is now classified as a particularly fire-prone zone ( zone rouge ) , especially in summer .
