Val d'Enfer
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The Val d'Enfer is a valley created by water erosion that is located below the village of Les Baux-de-Provence . The name Val d'Enfer , in English Valley of Hell , comes from the bizarre rock shapes made of white limestone .
The valley can be reached from Chemin départemental 27 via a path that borders the Pavillon de la Reine Jeanne .
First use of the valley
In the 2nd century BC, the rocks of the valley, made of the ore bauxite and white limestone, were used to build ancient cities like Glanum and Arles . The name of the stone bauxite, which was discovered here in 1821, comes from the neighboring village of Les Baux- de-Provence.
Mining was abandoned in 1935 to specialize in other more profitable locations in the region.
Legends
The valley is not only known as a former mining site, but also by the various stories and legends that take place here.
For example, Frédéric Mistral's poem Mirèio played in this valley. He also said as a note to his poem that Dante used this place as a model for Hell in his major work, The Divine Comedy .
The Val d'Enfer was also used in 1959 as the location for the film The Testament of Orpheus by Jean Cocteau .
literature
- Jean-Paul Clébert , Guide de la Provence mystériseuse , Tchou Verlag , 1972