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Montagne Sainte-Victoire
 
 
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Montagne Sainte-Victoire (in Provençal
Provençal language

Proven?al is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English language-speaking world, "Proven?al" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence, as well as in the southern portion of the Dauphin?...
 Occitan
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
: Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri according to Mistralian orthography) is a limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 mountain ridge in the south of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements
Départements of France

In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies, a department is an administrative division roughly analogous to an Districts of England, a Counties of the United States or a Regions and districts of Scotland....
 of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rh?ne is a departments of France in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rh?ne River....
 and Var
Var (département)

The Var is a French departments of France in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the Var River, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but which now flows into the Mediterranean further to the east....
. Its highest point is the Pic des mouches at 1,011 metres (3,316 ft); this is not however the highest point in Bouches-du-Rhône, which is instead found in the Sainte-Baume
Sainte-Baume

The Sainte-Baume is a mountain ridge spreading between the Departments of France of Bouches-du-Rh?ne and Var in southern France. Its summit is 1147 metres high....
 massif.

It is famous for appearing in very many paintings by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne

Paul C?zanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist Painting whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century....
, who could see it from near his house.






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Montagne Sainte-Victoire (in Provençal
Provençal language

Proven?al is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English language-speaking world, "Proven?al" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence, as well as in the southern portion of the Dauphin?...
 Occitan
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
: Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography
Occitan language

Occitan , known also as Lenga d'?c or Langue d'oc is a Romance languages spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain....
, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri according to Mistralian orthography) is a limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 mountain ridge in the south of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 which extends over 18 kilometres between the départements
Départements of France

In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies, a department is an administrative division roughly analogous to an Districts of England, a Counties of the United States or a Regions and districts of Scotland....
 of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rh?ne is a departments of France in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rh?ne River....
 and Var
Var (département)

The Var is a French departments of France in Provence, in southeast France. It takes its name from the Var River, which used to flow along its eastern boundary, but which now flows into the Mediterranean further to the east....
. Its highest point is the Pic des mouches at 1,011 metres (3,316 ft); this is not however the highest point in Bouches-du-Rhône, which is instead found in the Sainte-Baume
Sainte-Baume

The Sainte-Baume is a mountain ridge spreading between the Departments of France of Bouches-du-Rh?ne and Var in southern France. Its summit is 1147 metres high....
 massif.

It is famous for appearing in very many paintings by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne

Paul C?zanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist Painting whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century....
, who could see it from near his house. It also appears in the Coronation of the Virgin of 1454 by Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton

Enguerrand Quarton or Charonton was a France painting and illuminated manuscript whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherlandish painting....
.

The Croix de Provence is a notable feature of the mountain. At a height of 19 metres, this cross, although not placed at the highest point of the mountain, stands out from the ridge far more than the Pic des Mouches.

History and tourism


Originally called montagne de la Victoire, the mountain became known by Christians in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 as Sainte-Venture. In the 13th century, a chapel
Chapel

A chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large Church , a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds....
 was constructed at the summit. It was not until the 17th century that the mountain gained its current name.

In 1989 a fire ravaged over 50 km² of the mountain's south face. Much work has been done to promote reforestation
Reforestation

Reforestation is the restocking of existing forests and woodlands which have been depleted, with native tree stock. The term reforestation can also refer to afforestation, the process of restoring and recreating areas of woodlands or forest that once existed but were deforestation or otherwise removed or destroyed at some point in the pas...
, but the amount of vegetation, particularly conifers, remains much less than it was prior to the fire. Access to the mountain is now largely restricted during the summer.

However, during the periods of free access, the Saint-Victoire massif is a popular destination for hiking
Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often on trail. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous :Category:Hiking organizations worldwide....
, climbing
Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations....
, paragliding
Paragliding

Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing....
 and, to a lesser extent, caving
Caving

Caving ? also known as spelunking ? is the recreational sport of exploring caves. In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment....
. Around 700,000 walkers use its paths every year.

Artists


In addition to Cézanne
Paul Cézanne

Paul C?zanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist Painting whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century....
, Montagne Saint-Victoire has been a source of inspiration for other artists, for example:

  • The painter Pablo Picasso
    Pablo Picasso

    Pablo Diego Jos? Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Mar?a de los Remedios Cipriano de la Sant?sima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso was a Spanish people Painting, drawing, and Sculpture....
    , who bought the Château de Vauvenargues, situated at the foot of the mountain, and installed a studio there between 1959 and 1962
  • The painter Wassily Kandinsky
    Wassily Kandinsky

    Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian Painting, printmaker and art theorist. One of the most famous 20th-century artists, he is credited with painting the first modern abstract art works....
  • The writer Peter Handke
    Peter Handke

    Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright....
     with The Lesson of Saint-Victoire (1980)
  • The writer Guy Gavriel Kay
    Guy Gavriel Kay

    Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canada author of fantasy fiction. Many of his novels are set in fictional realms that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid....
     with Ysabel
    Ysabel

    Ysabel is the tenth novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was first published in January 2007 by Viking Canada. It is Kay's first urban fantasy and his first book set outside his fantasied Europe milieu since the publication of his first three novels in the 1980s ....
     (2007)


External links

  • (in French)