Fontaine-de-Vaucluse - Spring

The Fontaine de Vaucluse is a resurgent spring at the foot of a vertical rock wall 200m/656ft high. Here the water seeping through the limestone of the Plateau de Vaucluse emerges and, according to the amount of precipitation, the level of the water and the force of the spring vary considerably. It is most impressive in the spring, when the snow is melting.

It is reached by a roadway 800m/875yd long which is generally only passable on foot because of the numerous stalls selling souvenirs of all kinds; there are no parking facilities. On the right at the edge of the village and by the river is a cave museum ("Le Monde Souterraine"). Further along the path is a paper-mill with a great water-wheel and this has now been set up as a workshop open to the public in which paper is made according to 15th century methods.

On the mountain spur on the far side of the river, which appears turquoise green on account of the water plants, can be seen the ruins of the castle built by the Bishops of Cavaillon. The roadway continues upwards into the narrowing valley beside the river which is fringed with ancient plane trees and which rushes down in foaming cascades (hidden beneath the rocks when the water level is low). Set into the rock on the left above a small spring can be seen a tablet, placed here in 1963 by the Dante Society in memory of Petrarch and his beloved Laura.