Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey

9 points of interest

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  Patrimony and history

  Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey

  The Saint-Michel de Frigolet Abbey is located near Tarascon inside the Montagnette massif. Isolated in a wild valley in the middle of pines, it takes its name from "ferigoulo", thyme in Provencal language. The abbey hosts a community of Prémontrés canons since the twelfth century. In the past, it was abandoned several times, or used outside its ecclesiastical setting. Thus between 1831 and 1841, the site became a college frequented by Frédéric Mistral.

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  Geology

  The Montagnette

  The Montagnette is a 6 000 ha massif whose relief is of low altitude (150 m approximately), but relatively abrupt. Dating from the Neocomian secondary era, 70 million years ago, it is marked by a series of hills and valleys essentially oriented north-west / south-east, parallel to the axis of the mistral. With a significant agricultural and pastoral activity, the Montagnette massif has a relatively low afforestation rate (30%), mainly composed of Aleppo pines.

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  Panorama

  Orientation table of the Bonnet mill

  This orientation table was installed in 2002, at the initiative of the children of the primary school of Boulbon, a few meters below the Bonnet windsmill. It offers a magnificent panorama with on the left the Boulbon village and Montagnette, on the right the Rhone and the outskirts of the Gard department, and in the center the lowland cultivated by many fruit trees and the city of Beaucaire in the background.

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  Patrimony and history

  Bonnet Windsmill

  Located in the Montagnette, Moulin windsmill, was created in the eighteenth century, the golden age of windmills. The Rhône valley, swept by the Mistral, is an ideal site for mills. In operation until the 19th century, they were supplanted by industrial mills. In 2002, the Bonnet windsmill is the subject of a complete restoration : the tower has a roof and wings. It is the first windmill in Bouches-du-Rhône to have been put back into operation.

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  Patrimony and history

  Boulbon Castle

  This feudal castle, above the Rhone valley, has long been a sentinel of the county of Provence facing the Kingdom of France. Dating from the 11th century, it belonged to different owners, some of whom have left their names in history, like Raymond de Turenne or King René. The last Count of Boulbon, Gaston de Raousset, died in Boulbon without direct descendants in 1956. The castle is classified on the list of Historical Monuments since a decree of January 2nd, 1976.

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  Produits du terroir

  Précoce de Boulbon

  Précoce de Boulbon is an apricot tree that has almost disappeared. Around 2010, some trees were found in Boulbon, which saved the variety of the disappearance. It is a variety with early flowering that must be placed near other varieties, mainly Roussillon red apricot, if we want to ensure optimal pollination. The fruit is big and oblong. It has orange-yellow skin, carminated in the sun with small red spots.

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  Produits du terroir

  The olive tree

  Emblematic culture of the territory of the Alpilles, the olive tree is the symbol of the dry Mediterranean climate. Its multiple trunks are the result of a release at the strain level following a significant frost in 1956. Today, some of the olives and oils produced in the Alpilles are recognized nationally and internationally, benefiting from the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

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  Flora

  Alep pines

  The Alep pine is very present in the Alpilles. He appreciates the low altitudes (below 900 meters) and the Mediterranean regions (warm climate, dry soils, sunshine). It has the particularity to grow very quickly. It is observed therefore repel after the passage of fires, because it is the first essence which reconstructs the landscape. Highly flammable, its bark was previously used for tanning skins or dyes.

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  Panorama

  View on the Alpilles

  The Alpilles massif is a low altitude mountain range, made up of limestone white rocks. It stretches from west to east between Tarascon and Orgon over an area of ??50,000 hectares and sixteen municipalities. It is one of the emblematic reliefs of the Bouches-du-Rhône, dominating in the north the gardening lowland of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and in the south the Crau lowland The Opies, to the east of the massif, constitute its culminating point, with 498 meters of altitude.