Roussillon (Vaucluse)

Roussillon
region	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Department	Vaucluse
Arrondissement	Apt
Canton	Apt
Community association	Pays d'Apt-Luberon
Coordinates	43 ° 54 ' N , 5 ° 18' E Coordinates: 43 ° 54 ' N , 5 ° 18' E
height	159-365 m
surface	29.77 km 2
Residents	1,305 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	44 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	84220
INSEE code	84102
Website	Roussillon-en-Provence

Roussillon [ ʀusijɔ ] is a southern French village in the Vaucluse department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur . It belongs to the Arrondissement of Apt and the Canton of Apt . The municipality is part of the Luberon Regional Nature Park .

The small town with 1305 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) lies at the foot of the Luberon massif and is classified as one of the Plus beaux villages de France ( Most Beautiful Villages in France ).

economy

The place is best known for its ocher red earth, which is used as a raw material for the production of paints. The Romans, who called the village vicus russulus (red village) , were already mining ocher here. Roussillon was the center of ocher mining until the beginning of the 19th century, which continued until 1930. Today there is only one paint factory left to visit (Ancienne Usine Mathieu). The Sentier des Ocres , the ocher educational trail , is also located on the outskirts .

The vineyards around Roussillon belong to the Côtes du Ventoux appellation . More than 120,000 visitors annually and tourism determine the life of the community today.

coat of arms

Description: A white bar in green , covered with a red rose .

Personalities

Between 1942 and 1945, Samuel Beckett hid from the German Wehrmacht in Roussillon and set a monument to the city in his play Warten auf Godot .
In 1950, the American sociologist Laurence Wylie came to Roussillon and lived here for a year to study the community of the remote village. From his observations Wylie made a book called Village in the Vaucluse (first edition 1957). In the book he called the village "Peyrane", but meant Roussillon.

Attractions

Romanesque parish church of St-Michel with classical baptistery ( Monument historique )

Bell tower in the town center

town hall

Archangel Michael, painting in the Saint-Michel local church

Ocher quarry on the Sentier des ocres

Summit of Mont Ventoux as seen from Roussillon. In the foreground mountains of the Luberon.

Roussillon, in the background the cemetery

Ocher nature trail (Sentier des Ocres) on the outskirts of Roussillon

Ocher cliffs seen from the town center

Web links

Commons : Roussillon - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Roussillon (Vaucluse) - travel guide

Official website (French)

Individual evidence

^ Roussillon on Les plus Beaux Villages de France (French)
↑ In sociology, this book has long been regarded as the standard work on life in the French provinces before industrialization and before television. At that time, for example, two certain families in the village were considered shameless because they did not keep their shutters closed during the day. Michael Bengel. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , August 31, 1994, p. 39. Laurence Wylie: Village in the Vaucluse, the everyday life of a French community . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1978, ISBN 3-596-26621-1

[1] Roussillon on Les plus Beaux Villages de France (French)

[2] In sociology, this book has long been regarded as the standard work on life in the French provinces before industrialization and before television. At that time, for example, two certain families in the village were considered shameless because they did not keep their shutters closed during the day. Michael Bengel. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , August 31, 1994, p. 39. Laurence Wylie: Village in the Vaucluse, the everyday life of a French community . Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1978, ISBN 3-596-26621-1