Gordes Provence-Beyond (Beyond the French Riviera) ® Vaucluse (84220) Population: 2030 Altitude: 373 m Nearby: [ Avignon 35 km | Fontaine-de-Vaucluse | Goult 7 | Lagnes 12 | Roussillon | Abbaye de Senanque | Bories | Mont Ventoux ] Photos: 1 A bigger photo of the village, on a stormy winter day (28k) 2 A nearby borie (33k) 3 The village hillside on a sunnier day (21k) 4 The village and the imposing chateau and church (21k) Below: [ History | Museums | Transportation | Wine | Hiking | Lodging ] Gordes is a very beautiful old village, perched on the southern edge of the high Plateau de Vaucluse. The stone buildings built in tight against the base of the cliffs and those perched on the rocks above, including the 12th-century castle, are made of an beige stone that glows orange in the morning sun. The view from the village is a southern panorama out across fields and forests and small perched villages to the Montagne du Luberon. Behind the village (to the north), small roads lead into the rocks and valleys and forests of the Plateau de Vaucluse, with the picturesque Abbaye de Sénanque only 4 km away, yet isolated in its little valley. Beauty is a Pain. Take a trip to Gordes in the winter or early spring and you'll see the beautiful village, the amazing views and the lovely, rocky and forested countryside. You'll also see several large hotels, neat and discreet, but indicative of the disadvantage of any beautiful site: the summer crowds are thick here with a very large number of tourists. Gordes is also a popular summer residence for artists and media and film people from Paris. Victor Vasarely has a Didactic Museum here as an extention to the Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence. The painter André Lhote also lived in Gordes, from 1939-1948. Bories Gordes is in a region of the Vaucluse with many of the interesting dry-stone buildings called bories, and a key attraction here is the Village de Bories. Where the most common Provençal borie is a simple little storage hut, this Village is an incredible collection of houses, walls, barns and a variety of other enclosures. * Village des Bories: open 09:00-17:30; about 30FF per adult Name First record, 4th century: Vorda (from the name of the early inhabitants: Vordensès) 1031: Castrum Gordone History Prehistoric: nearby neolithic remains were found at Grande-Côte and Roques. Gallo-Roman: Numerous Roman and pre-Roman artifacts found here and nearby include amphors, columns, thermal baths, furniture and tombes carved in solid rock and even skeletons. Medieval: Gordes was a Simiane fief, eventially passing to the fiefs of Soubise and then Condé (in the 18th century). During the Wars of Religion, Gordes successfully withstood a siege by the Baron of Adrets. Gordes was a center of wool and leather industries in the 17th and 18th centuries, including weaving, carding and tanning. In 1886, part of the village was destroyed by an earthquake, which tended to hasten the already declining local industries. Dates, Numbers Market day: Tuesday Fête St. Firmin: Sunday following 11 Oct Fête de Vin (Côtes du Ventoux): 13-14 July Fête votive Imberts: 3rd Sunday Sept Light shows and concerts at the château or abbey: end May to early Sept Office de Tourisme - tel: (33) 490 72 02 75 Museums Histoire du Verre et du Vitrail (Glass Making) Open: Feb-Oct, groups to Nov Le Moulin des Bouillons (Olive-Oil Mill) Located in a typical provencal "bastide" on a Roman site, this is the oldest intact olive-oil mill. Open: Feb-Oct, groups to Nov Transportation Bus. Bus information is given the Travel-Bus page. Wine Apt is in the region of the Rhône Valley Côtes de Ventoux wines. Camping Hiking Maps: IGN "bleue" (1:25,000) Gordes is in the corner, so you might need 3142 ouest "Cavaillon" (Gordes and southwest) 3141 ouest "Carpentras" (northwest) 3141 est "St-Saturnin-lès-Apt" (northeast) 3142 est "Apt-bonnieux" (southeast) Didier Richard (1:50,000) #27 "Ventoux", #14 "Luberon" The Grandes Randonnées GR6 and GR97 pass through Gordes. To the east, the GR97-6 trail goes along the valley to Roussillon, St. Saturnin-lès-Apt, Rustrel and Viens. (There's camping just past Roussillon and a Gîte d'etape at Rustrel.) To the north and west, a myriad of GR and other well-marked trails wind through the forests and hills of the Plateau de Vaucluse, passing the villages of Joucas and Murs. The GR also goes directly past the Abbey de Sénanque 4 km to the north. Lodging Listing available