Les Baux-de-Provence

Les Baux-de-Provence is a small village and commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône département in the province of Provence. It is located in the Alpilles Mountains and it is set atop a rocky outcrop. Because of defensive possibilities traces of habitation have been found dating back as far as 6000 BC. The Celts used it as a hill fort and during the middle ages it was a seat of a powerful lordship, which controlled villages of the Provence for many years. The town was granted in 1642 to the Grimaldi family, rulers of Monaco, as a French marquisiate. In 1822 the mineral bauxite was discovered near Les Baux. Today the village has got 4,000 inhabitants and most of the old buildings are ruins.