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The Bories Village in Gordes in the Luberon
Preservation of the Bories |
The
Bories village constitutes the largest
group of such huts found in the region
of Apt, in the Luberon. Revived and retored
thanks to the hard work of the land's
owner, it is, since 1977, classed as
a historic monument. It need ten years
of effort to give a facelift to this
site abandonned, for over a century,
to the vegtation. Protected, but open
to the public as well as the ethnologist,
it gives you the opportunity to understand
the extraordinary composition of this
Provençal native architecture
of which the essence itself lies in the
mastery of the use of dry stone in construction,
generously provided by a dry and calcareous
nature. In Provence, we still gather
stones from the field and scrubland to
build walls and sheds, to support terraced
land.
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Attempts
at dating the bories have been made.
What we do know is that the origin
of bories goes as far back as the Bronze
Age. As to this village itself, many
theories have been put forward to determine
its age. According to some, it would
have been constructed after the fall
of Apta Julia around the 7th century.
For others, with regard to the objects
and money found on the site, it could
not been built prior to the 15th century.
Other remains, such as the pottery,
date from the 18th century. It is possible
that the spot was inhabited and refurbished
several times. One thing is certain,
the most recent constructions date
from the 19th century. Today presented
as a museum, the village brings together
an exhibition of traditional objects
and tools, as well as presenting the
historie of the Bories and of dry stone
architecture in France and in the world.
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© texte : Sandrine Moirenc © photos:
François Lochon - Gamma |
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