Mourre de Cairas

Take the time to visit to the north side of the village, the landscaped garden of Saint-Cécile's terraces.! These fifteen dry stone terraces gather more than forty species of trees and shrubs, typical of the country. Shaped like an amphitheatre, it is a real collection of the Luberon jewels over 1.6ha.

La Place de la Croix est aujourd’hui le cœur d’Oppède-le-Vieux. Elle a été aménagée à partir du XVIIe s. A cette époque commence le processus de “déperchement” du village d’Oppède, c’est à dire son déplacement de l’éperon rocheux vers la plaine pour profiter de conditions de vie moins rudes. Ce processus se poursuivra jusqu’au début du XXe s., avec le déplacement de la mairie au hameau des Poulivets en 1909. Sur la Place de la Croix se trouve l’ancien beffroi de la ville, appelé aussi campanile, construit au XVIIe s.

As evidenced by the inscription in one of the stone pillars, this covered market was built in 1772. Located at Place de la Croix and against the rampart, it hosted the meetings of the villagers including fairs. Simple, with an elongated lean-to roof, the care and precision brought to moulded capitals of the pillars is quite noticeable. It was restored in 1991 while missing three spans.

Ménerbes, the hillside village you can see in the distance, is worth seeing. On its terraces, the warm atmosphere and the Maison de la Truffe et du Vin (truffles and wine restaurant) is open to experienced gastronomes as those looking to experience some local specialities. You can also see in its plain the vineyards and holm or white oaks that hide the famous black diamond (truffle) at their feet.

The north side of the Petit Luberon is formed of white limestone called Urgonian. It faces, to the north, a calcareous molasse bar gently sloping, overlooking a steep slope bank. This morphology is called "cuesta" by geologists. Exploited since antiquity, the molasse is always extracted in Oppède and Ménerbes, in open quarries.

On the park's territory, the forest occupies 90% of the surface of natural areas. To preserve the balance of nature, biodiversity, cultural heritage and landscape in these forest ecosystems, it is necessary to apply a management that promotes several strata of vegetation, favourable to bats and birds. This forest management must focus on diversification of age classes of trees and species diversity (holm and pubescent oak, pine).

Strolling through these paths, you can come across a look-alike of the common wall Lizard, tumbling down a bush.. Also brown, the Spanish psammodromus strangely resembles its cousin but when you look closer, it has four dark streaks with black spots on its back. Extremely fast, it likes to hide under dead leaves or sand and screeches when its caught.

You are here on the massif of the Petit Luberon which forms an anticline (arch-shaped fold) oriented east-west, between the plain of Cavaillon and the Lourmarin valley. The north side overlooking the Coulon-Calavon Valley and its southern side, the Durance valley, the mythical river of Provence. To the west, on the hills of Bonnieux, the Cedar forest covers the mountains.

The lawns of the peaks of the Petit Luberon are open areas rich in biodiversity. The large herbaceous vegetation gives this space an ancestral pastoral calling. The combined action of man and nature provides exceptional biological diversity where there are endemic plant species, reptiles of all kinds or mammals like the Mediterranean pine vole. These grasslands are also hunting areas for large raptors.

The first cedars were implanted in 1862 with seeds from the Algerian Atlas. Planted by some committed foresters, they were intended to reforest the summit of the Petit Luberon. The cedars of 1st generation found on the Massif des Cèdres near Bonnieux are now 150 years old. The majestic cedars that you can admire in the area are descendants from natural colonization and form the forest today.

The Spiked magician (Saga pedo) is the largest bush cricket in France and among the largest insects. It may indeed measure up to 11cm. Very discreet, it enjoys the dry grassland and scrubland of southern France that we see here. Rather a rare fact, there is no male of this species. The females reproduce with parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) and the offsprings of each female are therefore clones.

Le vieux village d’Oppède est un équilibre parfait entre bâtisses, verdure et lumière, entre mystères et histoire. Un village hors du temps, dominé par le château et la collégiale, qui nous replonge en plein Moyen-Age. De cette impressionnante forteresse du XIIIe s., il ne reste que quelques ruines, murs, arcs, salles voûtées et fenêtres qui nous laissent imaginer la grandeur passée de ce site. Le château a appartenu à la famille Maynier d'Oppède, dont Jean, président du Parlement d'Aix fit appliquer l'arrêté royal et organisa le massacre de 3000 vaudois à Cabrières d'Avignon et à Mérindol en 1545.

To the right, above the path, lies a small rock climbing schoolpopular with climbers from all around the country. Itcontains about forty routes with difficulty levels ranging from 3a to 7b, fitted on limestone slabs over 16m. Located at the limit of the biotope protection, it is the only site open to climbers on the Petit Luberon. All the other cliffs are closed to climbing practices in order to preserve the tranquillity of raptors.

Here the atmosphere is special, and the ecological wealth is striking. A true social housing moss and fungi, older trees host a multitude of inhabitants; birds, insects, or bats ... In the cracks of branches, holes drilled by woodpeckers or under the ivy, they nest or flush out wood-eating insects (xylophagous). The flora of the understory is also original. These old forests are precious.