Village des Bories – Fascinating Provençal Architectural History

Read my story in French »
We spied a sign for the Village des Bories as we descended the road out of Gordes France. Having plenty of daylight hours remaining, we decided to take yet another side trip in our Provence adventure. Just 1.5 kilometers from Gordes, this open-air museum was a fascinating place to explore and we had the whole place to ourselves!

What is a borie?

Bories are dry stone huts, meaning there is no type of mortar between the stones. This method dates back to the middle ages. Stacking stones at a slight incline encouraged rain to run off and also improved insulation. (note – these details are taken from the plaques on-site.)

This vaulted arch between chambers illustrates the technique. I must admit, it was a bit unnerving to stand beneath the arch knowing that only pressure and angle of inclination were keeping the flat stones in place.

These bories or cabanes provided temporary shelter for farmers and shepherds. A surrounding wall meant that a shepherd designed this borie to keep his sheep contained as well.

Let’s go inside some bories.

The empty hut just at the left above was noted to be an animal shelter which is why there is a trough and nothing else inside.

Though most of the buildings had an arched form, one was more “modern” or rectangular in style.

The trails were a delight to walk

Surrounded by a low stone wall, there were some lovely trails to walk around the perimeter of the Village des Bories. We spent almost as much time enjoying the meandering paths and olive trees as we did in exploring the village.

You can read more details about the bories here.

“The restoration is crowned by the French Academy of Architecture.
The site was classified as a Historic Monument in 1977.
In 1983, the town of Gordes become the site’s owner and administrator.
Today, it is one of the most visited sites in Vaucluse.”

Mon histoire du Village des Bories (en bref) en français…

Quand j’ai vu le panneau du Village des Bories lorsque j’ai quitté Gordes, je voulais suivre cette route à la place de la route du retour. Le soleil ne se sera pas couché pour plusieurs heures, nous avons donc fait un petit détour dans notre exploration de Provence.

Que sont les bories ? Construites par des bergers et des fermiers, ce sont des cabanes en pierre sèche, sans mortier. L’empilement des pierres aux angles, un abri protégé de l’eau et du vent a été créé. Il n’y a que l’angle d’inclinaison et de tension qui maintient les pierres en place. Ces cabanes servaient d’abri pour les bergers, les fermiers, et leurs animaux.

De temps à autre, ces gens construisaient des murs autour des cabanes pour empêcher leurs animaux de s’éloigner. Les cabanes que nous voyons ici, avec seulement une auge de pierre dedans, étaient certainement pour les animaux.

Autour du périmètre du Village des Bories, on trouve des beaux chemins à balader avec des oliviers, des fleurs sauvages et des murs en pierre sèche. C’est facile à comprendre pourquoi ce site historique est l’un des sites les plus visités du Vaucluse.