Les Baux-de-Provence
Lei Bauç de Provença (Occitan) | |
|---|---|
 View of the village and its castle from the northwest | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Les Baux-de-Provence  | |
  Les Baux-de-Provence  Les Baux-de-Provence | |
| Coordinates: 43°44′38″N 4°47′43″E / 43.7439°N 4.7953°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| Department | Bouches-du-Rhône |
| Arrondissement | Arles |
| Canton | Salon-de-Provence-1 |
| Intercommunality | Vallée des Baux-Alpilles |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Anne Poniatowski[1] |
| Area 1 | 18.07 km2 (6.98 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | 289 |
| • Density | 16/km2 (41/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Baussencs |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 13011 /13520 |
| Elevation | 52–310 m (171–1,017 ft) |
| Website | www |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Les Baux-de-Provence (French pronunciation: [le bo də pʁɔvɑ̃s]; lit. "Les Baux of Provence"; Provençal: Lei Bauç de Provença (classical norm) or Li Baus de Prouvènço (mistralian norm)), commonly referred to simply as Les Baux, is a rural commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France.[3]
It is located in the Alpilles mountains, northeast of Arles, atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its name refers to its site: in Provençal, bauç is a rocky spur. From the village name the word bauxite was coined for aluminium ore when first discovered there by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. Until 13 August 1958, the commune was officially named Les Baux.[4]
Renamed after the historical province of Provence, it is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association and has over 1.5 million visitors per year although it has only about 20 residents in the upper part of the commune and 315 (as of 2020) for the whole commune. Inhabitants of the commune are known as Baussencs (masculine) and Baussenques (feminine) in French.[5] The commune is part of Alpilles Regional Natural Park.[6]
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ Commune des Baux-de-Provence (13011), INSEE. (in French)
- ^ Décret du 7 août 1958 portant changement de nom de la commune des Baux (Bouches-du-Rhône), Journal officiel de la République française n° 0188, 12 August 1958, p. 7552.
- ^ Inhabitants of Bouches-du-Rhône (in French).
- ^ (in French) Villes et villages, on Alpilles Regional Natural Park (www.parc-alpilles.fr).