La Virginière

Just above the village, the troglodyte site of Beaumettes is part of the most famous sites of the Vaucluse. These underground structures lining up on nearly 130m represent a real little hamlet. Houses, farming outbuildings including a dovecote, ponds and cisterns are built around a castle and the Romanesque chapel of Sainte-Foy. There are 3 types of troglodytes: the closing of a natural orifice, constructed caves (the case in Beaumettes) and sheltered structures built against a hill.

Until 1992, the Calavon was presented as one of the most polluted rivers in France, mainly by the industrial waste of food-processing factories of Apt. Since then, thanks to the joint efforts of all water users who rallied for a coherent and overall river management, this river which was once "murdered" is now revived. Its inclusion in 2005 in the European network Natura 2000, identifier of important natural sites for biodiversity, goes in this direction.

Exotic species introduced into an ecosystem, sometimes unintentionally, represent the third cause of loss of biodiversity. The Calavon river is here affected by the Water Primrose, an aquatic plant from South America. It spread in Europe in the 19th century through ornamental ponds where it was used as an ornamental species for its yellow flowers. Very invasive, it hinders the circulation of aquatic fauna, eliminates aquatic plant habitats, and can cause aquatic asphyxiation.

The river, a dynamic environment, changes over time and space. It is constantly trying to dissipate its energy by eroding its banks and depositing material where the flow is low. This active strip creates diverse habitats for many species. Since 1944, its surface was reduced on average by 40% on the Calavon because of former gravel extraction activities. Its bed therefore sunk 2m, 4m locally, leaving the bedrock appear sometimes.

A migratory species of Africa, the European Bee-eater breeds in Luberon from May to September. Colourful birds, it hunts from a lookout, often waiting in groups on power lines. It catches insects, mostly Hymenoptera (bees, wasps) but also dragonflies, cicadas, butterflies. An individual can eat up to 250 bees a day! The European Bee-eater nests here in the banks of the Calavon where it found the right conditions to dig a long tunnel.

Along the way you may have noticed the yellow milestones, sometimes topped with a "hood" which may look like feeding boxes for birds. It is not so! It is the materialisation, particularly for air traffic controls, of the passage of the main gas line which supplies the Apt valley. But on this site, GRT GAZ contributes to the preservation of the natural environments of Calavon, by supporting the Luberon Park in the land acquisitions of parcels bordering the stream.

The channel bottom of a river is called bed. The flow rate (amount of water that passes a point in a given time) vary throughout the year. The minor riverbed is the physical confine of the normal water flow. The moderate bed corresponds to the non-overflowing floods, contained by the higher river banks. The major bed is the rise in water level overflowing its banks and flowing onto its flood plain. Preserving these beds is essential to slow down the water in order to protect the urban areas against flooding.

Here the high voltage line Apt - Cavaillon crosses outstanding natural environments of Calavon. The management and maintenance of vegetation in and around the electrical works are for Réseau Transport Electrique a major technical and environmental concern. Therefore, the Luberon Park and RTE are working together to restore the site in order to reconcile the safety of the electrical grid and the preservation of the biodiversity.

From here, you will be overlooking the valley floor of Calavon dominated by the presence of natural environments (alluvial forest and pebble banks) shaped by the river at the whim of floods. There at the Hameau de Lumières, the plain bears the marks of the narrowing hilly area, creating a barrier effect. The slopes are made up of a sandy limestone of marine origin: molasse. It was formed 20 million years ago when the Mediterranean sea went up the Rhone Valley.

L’espace naturel sensible (ENS) « Zones humides du Calavon aval » concerne 5 sites de la rivière Calavon-Coulon répartis à l’aval d’Apt, entre le Pont Julien et Coustellet : les Tours, Ponty, la Bégude, la Virginière (Goult) et le Plan (Oppède), soit environ 80 ha. Ces milieux sont porteurs d’un patrimoine naturel typique de ce tronçon de la rivière : ripisylve, lit de cours d’eau méditerranéen à bancs de sable et graviers, pelouses sèches des terrasses alluviales, mares, forêts. La Virginière à Goult qui sétale rive gauche du Calavon-Coulon sur environ 17 ha, est aussi un terrain d’expérimentation et de suivi scientifique de la biodiversité d’une zone humide. 

A wide riparian forest is developing on the opposite bank. This Latin word comes from "ripa" meaning bank (river), and "sylva" forest. This wetland vegetation is characterized by the presence of the soft wood trees such as willows and poplars of which the Beaver is very fond. It is essential to the proper functioning of rivers by acting as shade, sewage, soil protection as well as refuge and food source for many species.

The number of bird species documented on this site through monitoring conducted each spring. Of these, 40 are nesting. Most are typical of the riparian forest of the river and its banks: Kingfisher, Golden oriole, Grey heron... The latter is easily recognized by its large size, its grey plumage, its slow and powerful flight and his neck bent into an "S". These bird populations are very sensitive to any disruption of the area, so hush!

The excavation located below is the original site of the Neolithic dolmen reconstructed 500m upstream, away from the Calavon floods. The flood from 1994 had uncovered it due to the erosion of the banks which were pushed back here at 40m over a distance of 150m. Located on the north-facing slope, this tomb dating back to 3000 BC contained fifty individuals of all ages and gender, buried in a contracted position, the legs folded and brought close to the torso.

Le guêpier d’Europe ou « chasseur d’Afrique » est un oiseau très coloré qui creuse son nid dans les ocres ou sur les berges sableuses  du Calavon-Coulon. Très présent dans le Luberon, il nous quitte en septembre pour l’Afrique et ne revient qu’au mois d’avril pour la nidification. Cette migration est risquée, puisque 30 % d’entre eux ne reviendront pas, mais c’est l’occasion pour les jeunes nés de s’accoupler avant de creuser, à leur tour, un nid dans le Luberon.

At the foothill is the reconstitution of the dolmen discovered500m downstream during the flood of 1994. The original monument forgotten, was covered with silt for centuries and therefore well preserved. Then, after 2014, too exposed to successive floods, in 2013- 2014, it was fully moved, stone by stone, after numbering and carefully disassembling them. This structure is the second of its kind in the Vaucluse after the one in Ménerbes, and one of the few in Provence.

Its nocturnal habits make a of the Beaver a discreet host of the rivers, where only the marks of its lumberjack activity betray it. Recognizable by its stocky shape and flat tail, it is a vegetarian and feeds particularly on willow and poplar. Building dams during droughts, it is very useful in the preservation of wetlands. With its 30kg, it is the largest rodent in Europe. Protected since 1968, he re-colonised the Calavon where a hundred individuals are identified.

The Calavon is also called Coulon downstream of Apt. The geographical limits of use of the name Coulon is set here in the Commune of Goult where one of its tributaries reaches upstream of the bridge: L'Imergue. Spelled "Limergue" until the early 20th century, it comes the Latin word "Limés" which means the limit. This river was considered, from late Antiquity to the Middle Ages, as a border between the two influencial linguistic areas and the Contat Venaissin.

The Calavon often goes through droughts. In addition to the dry climate, 45% of its drainage basin does not contribute to the flows of the river. The water seeps into the Karst (porous limestone) and comes out at the Vaucluse fountain. To this loss of water you may add water drawing for a household, agricultural or industrial use. Through its regular monitoring of the flows, the Luberon Park participates in Prefectural decisions on drawing restrictions. Let's save water, every drop counts!

The alluvial terraces bordering Calavon are colonised by herbaceous plants including the rare and protected Sand bassia. This steppe species of sandy areas seems to keep up in France only in the Vaucluse, especially in the Calavon between Apt and Robion (15 known sites of the 19 in France). Here, just below the path, a program for the reinforcement and the monitoring of its populations is implemented on the grounds of the Luberon Regional Nature Park.

This is already the case.! With the European spadefoot toad and its hen-like singing. With its rooster-like spurs in its hind feet, it hides in the sand until it rains! A rare and vulnerable species in France, considered near threatened globally, the Luberon Park restored breeding ponds for the species in the reed bed located just below.

The station, now a town housing, is proof of the railway line connecting Cavaillon to Volx built under the Second Empire. 78km long, it required not less than 3.5 hours to connect the two terminals. During the 20th century, the sections closed one by one. The Cavaillon-Apt section, passing through this station, ceased operating in 1989. A pilgrimage site, the Gare de Lumières saw many pilgrims disembark during its years of operation.

In the alluvial plain, due to the floods, the Calavon can shift its bed onto a "corridor" called area of freedom. These shifts by soil erosion can slower the water and are the sources of the ecosystem diversity. Too often, man has obstructed this lateral mobility by keeping the river in a constrained manner with rip-rap or embankments. Preserving, and even restoring, this area contributes to a good water status and the protection against flooding.

The wetlands of the Luberon are rare and are represented mainly by rivers that constitute biodiversity oasis. In France, half of the wetlands have disappeared during the 20th century. Yet they offer many free services: water storage, purification, protection against soil erosion, slowing down flows. They also play an important role in the local economy and the attractiveness of the area (agriculture, leisure activities,). Let's protect them!