The silhouette of an Alep pine clinging to red clays, the limestone that detaches itself in the background, the silent flight of an eagle slipping along the rocky edges: enter the universe of the Grand Site Sainte-Victoire. Discover a vast range of exceptional biodiversity. Foisonnante garrigue, ridges swept away by mistral, immense wild oak trees: so many different atmospheres. The beauty of this environment, the preservation of the landscape heritage and the effective management of this territory have earned it national recognition: the Grand Site of France.
A remarkable landscape
The Grand Site Sainte-Victoire is located between the famous Luberon, but also Mount Aurélien, less known, and Sainte-Baume. Delimited by the Durance Valley and, in the south, by the Arc Valley, this territory concerns fourteen municipalities and has two contrasting geographical entities. The first: Mountain Sainte-Victoire, whose summit is 1,011 m. The second: Concors massif that owes their name to Concors - 781 m altitude. This vast territory of 35 000 hectares, of which 20 000 woodland, holds 20% of the French flora.
At tens of kilometers, the mountain Sainte-Victoire dominates the landscape. It is impossible to ignore it. Sainte-Victoire imposes the vision of white cliffs contrasting with the immaculate blue sky or the dark gray almost black of a cloud cloud. There is nothing equal to the glare of the sunset when the rocky side of the mountain is illuminated by a golden color burning to red with the last rays. Yet the Grand Site Sainte-Victoire is not just the south face of this jewel. Located in the north, the natural space of Concors presents a succession of secret valleys and wooded hills alternating with a mosaic of rural landscapes. Here is located at the very top of the mountain to which she gave her name, discreet and romantic chapel Sainte-Concorse, recently renovated as part of France's Grand Site approach.
Late Rename
Sainte-Victoire has not always enjoyed its reputation today. Until the eighteenth century Aix-en-Provence is most often represented in the south-north sense, ignoring the mountain. Béranger, author of the evenings Provençal (1786) mentions «the naked and steep rocks, the rock drylands carved up», obstacles to the human installation. Worse, Sainte-Victoire seems invisible to the many passing writers who have described the city without any reference to this natural monument today so famous. We have to wait until the nineteenth century for excursionists to begin to praise the beauty of the sommital panorama.
For the Aixois of the time, it seems almost incongruous to mention a mountain. The painter Granet, himself, reserves the paintings representing Sainte-Victoire. As for Parisian rename? We are still far from it! Thus, at the exhibition of 1895, the famous Canvas of Cézanne, now known worldwide as La Montagne Sainte-Victoire à la grand pine is appointed by the galerist Vallée de l 'Arc…
It is with Cézanne, however, that the mountain becomes a source of inspiration. The artist goes beyond mere representation and finds other pictorial horizons. Cézanne stands up in front of Sainte-Victoire. The success, its performances of the mountain will be scattered around the world. Some will settle at the foot of the mountain in the wake of the master. As for Picasso, who acquired Vauvenargues castle and about a thousand hectares of the northern flank of the mountain, he prides himself on buying the original work. It's 1934, so that the city organized an exhibition bringing together painters on the theme of Sainte-Victoire. Finally recognized, it will become the mineral emblem of Aix-en-Provence.
Fauna, flora and protection
Forests occupy 70% of the territory: pine pinewood pine, which can grow in the sun on poor soils; green oaks covering vast expanses; white oak whose leaves dry in winter… On the edge of the woods, the tin and the juniper appear, and then the forest cedes square to the garrigue, the kingdom of Kermès oak and the smell of smell. There is no doubt, by crossing the Grand Site, of the biological wealth of this territory. However, 32 000 hectares have been integrated into the European network Natura 2000, the biodiversity protection program. The Concors Sainte-Victoire space houses 900 flowering plants, 126 bird species, mammals including rare bats, not counting insects and other reptiles… The biodiversity of the site is due to the confluence of Mediterranean and alpine climates, topped up - 800 m from the bottom of the Sainte-Victoire mountains and its summit - or to variations of sunshine depending on slopes, and on soil geology.
The Grand Site also houses remarkable specimens that are the subject of all attention. Among these species, the Bonelli eagle, emblematic of the territory. This majestic 1.70 m tall rapace is recognizable to its white belly, spotted with black brown flames, contrasting with its dark wings. From the great rapace to the smallest of the invertebrates, some species of the territory remain of mystery. Unknown to the general public, they lead a discreet life free from sight but are fragile. You may have the chance to observe in her the serene Magician, the largest insect in France (9 to 11 cm long). This amazing grasshopper, this amazing grasshopper, is reproduced by partheogenesis: the males do not exist! Rarer still: the locust locust, endemic species that lives from Upper Var to the heights of Vauvenargues. Prionotropis hystrix azami, shines through his apathy: it only travels a few dozen meters in all its existence. This fat, gray-brown insect is mute. Present on Concors, the strange specimen frequents the grazed areas north of the Peak of Flies. Its preservation will therefore depend on the maintenance of pastoralism which is involved in opening up the media.
The flower meadows of the site are also the kingdom of butterflies, insects much more visible. Their population in the territory represents 20% of the total rhopalocers, butterflies, French. Despite this wide variety, some species are threatened with extinction. Small blue butterfly spotted in black, the Azuré of the Serpolet was recently spotted south of the massif. The Azuenaudier Azuré, another blue butterfly, is placed on the red list of threatened insects. It is therefore a mosaic of varied spaces and different biotopes that the Grand Site Sainte-Victoire has the task of preserving.
Tourist and cultural destination
The Sainte-Victoire mountain has evolved over the ages. Today, recreational activities have been added to traditional activities. With 1.3 million visitors every year, the site is very busy. Visitors enjoy an exceptional environment. As early as 1898, the first trail was marked by the French Alpine Club and climbing has been practiced for over a century. More recently new activities have emerged such as paragliding, ATV, speleology or orientation racing. Associations, inspired by the beauty of the massif, also create cultural events. So, at your calendars!
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