Bories village

This hamlet called Village of bories, is located 1.5km west of Gordes, at 270m above sea level. It is reached by a road lined with oaks and stone walls and having its point of origin on the departmental road No. 2, coming from Cavaillon / les Imberts, just before arriving at the Col of Gordes.
It is a former group of about 20 dry-stone huts (mounted without mortar) for agricultural use and mainly seasonal use, constitued for three decades as an open-air museum. At the initiative of a private individual, Pierre Viala, the southern part of what was a remote area of the village proper, known in the cadastre under the name of "hamlet of the Savournins" and in the popular language under the name "Les Cabanes ", was to be gradually redeemed and restored between 1969 and 1976 and finally classified as a historic monument on 17 October 1977.
This hamlet is typical of the temporary habitat which, in the Mediterranean countries, doubled the permanent village and was linked to seasonal agricultural work. Its appearance results from the great movements of conquest of the lands that knew the Provence in the 17th and 18th centuries. The rush on the hills around Gordes is at the origin of the thousands of tons of stones extracted from the soil during the manufacture of fields that will give rise to the different groups of huts that are found on this limestone plateau. The cleared plots were planted with "dry" crops: mulberry tree, almonds, cereals, fodder and especially olive trees.
The huts are built with the material of the place, flat stones coming from the bedrock, thick 10 to 15 cm and locally called "lauses" or "clapes". These lauses were generally squared to facilitate installation. The main builders are modest peasants, farmers, and shepherds, the biggest huts, with elaborate architecture, are the work of professionals, masons who were real "masters" of dry stone and who Left some magnificent works. The term "dry stone masonry" means the laying of selected and cut stones without the use of cement or other binder: lime or earth.

Link to the website : "Destination Luberon" for more information.