35 Facts About Provence

Coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe.

The cave dwellings of the early inhabitants of Provence were regularly flooded by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion.

Provence was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun.

Provence then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt and Tarascon, and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through Frejus and Aix-en-Provence.

Oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the Frejus Cathedral, dating from the 5th century.

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At about the same time, the first two monasteries in Provence were founded: Lerins Abbey, on the island of Saint-Honorat near Cannes, and Abbey of St Victor in Marseille.

The ransom was paid and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by Count William I rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress at the Battle of Tourtour.

In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, Douce I, Countess of Provence, married the Catalan Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, who as a result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence.

The capital of Provence was moved from Arles to Aix-en-Provence, and later to Brignoles.

Provence's fortunes became tied to the Angevin Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples.

The defeat of the French Army during the Hundred Years' War forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside.

An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders of Provence was organised to resist the authority of Queen Joan I of Naples .

Provence's was murdered in 1382 by her cousin and heir, Charles of Durazzo, who started a new war, leading to the separation of Nice, Puget-Theniers and Barcelonnette from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the County of Savoy.

Provence eventually settled in one of his remaining territories, Provence.

Provence benefitted from population growth and economic expansion, and Rene was a generous patron of the arts, sponsoring painters Nicolas Froment, Louis Brea, and other masters.

Provence completed one of the finest castles in Provence at Tarascon, on the Rhone river.

Provence was legally incorporated into the French royal domain in 1486.

In 1545, the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence ordered the destruction of the villages of Lourmarin, Merindol, Cabrieres in the Luberon, because their inhabitants were Vaudois, of Italian Piedmontese origin, and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics.

The cities: Marseille, Toulon, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards and richly decorated private houses.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Provence suffered from the economic malaise of the end of the reign of Louis XIV.

Volunteers from Provence inspired the name of the most memorable song of the period, "La Marseillaise".

When he escaped from Elba on 1 March 1815, and landed at Golfe-Juan, he detoured to avoid the cities of Provence, which were hostile to him, and therefore directed his small force directly to the northeast of it.

Provence enjoyed prosperity in the 19th century; the ports of Marseille and Toulon connected Provence with the expanding French Empire in North Africa and the Orient, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

Provence went to war with Austria in 1859 and won a victory at Solferino, which resulted in Austria ceding Lombardy to France.

Between World War I and World War II, Provence was bitterly divided between the more conservative rural areas and the more radical big cities.

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In 1962, Provence absorbed a large number of French citizens who left Algeria after its independence.

In recent years, residents of Provence have struggled to reconcile economic development and population growth with their desire to preserve the region's unique landscape and culture.

Rhone river, on the western border of Provence, is one of the major rivers of France, and has been a highway of commerce and communications between inland France and the Mediterranean for centuries.

Garrigue is the typical landscape of Provence; it is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland or chaparral found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is moderate, but where there are annual summer drought conditions.

The winds of Provence are an important feature of the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which, especially in the winter, blows down the Rhone Valley to the Bouches-du-Rhone and the Var Departments, and often reaches over one hundred kilometres an hour.

Department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has a Mediterranean climate in the lower valleys under one thousand metres in altitude and an alpine climate in the high valleys, such as the valleys of the Blanche, the Haut Verdon and the Ubaye, which are over 2500 metres high.

Haute-Provence has unusually high summer temperatures for its altitude and latitude .

Cuisine of Provence is the result of the warm, dry Mediterranean climate; the rugged landscape, good for grazing sheep and goats but, outside of the Rhone Valley, poor soil for large-scale agriculture; and the abundant seafood on the coast.

Wines of Provence were probably introduced into Provence around 600 BC by the Greek Phoceans who founded Marseille and Nice.

Provence devised a new set of rules where the field was much smaller, and players did not run before throwing the ball, but remained inside a small circle with their feet together.