At the foot of the Luberon, this discreet village reveals a history deeply shaped by its quarries, its people and its traditions. From the majestic Moulin Saint Pierre to the rocky landscapes carved by quarrymen, from popular beliefs to memorable local figures, every place tells a fragment of the soul of Les Taillades.
This page invites you to dive into the heart of this heritage. Explore the traces of the industrial past, uncover the mysteries of the Morvelous, meet Saint Gens, discover everyday life from long ago and understand how stone shaped the identity of the village. A true immersion into the history of a mineral and vibrant territory.
The long history of the Saint Pierre Mill is inseparable from that of the village of Les Taillades. It all began in November 1859 with the opening of the Canal de l’Isle, which still powers the mill’s waterwheel today. The mill’s wheel measures around 8 meters in diameter and features 24 paddles driven by the clear waters of the canal.
Seen from the road connecting Cheval-Blanc to Robion, the mill offers a picture-postcard view: its majestic wheel is reflected in the waters of the Cabedan Neuf canal, giving the site a peaceful and timeless atmosphere.
Originally, the Saint Pierre Mill was a madder mill. From its root, this dye plant produced a red pigment called alizarin, which was notably used to dye the famous madder-red trousers worn by French army uniforms until the early First World War. The rise of synthetic dyes, however, quickly brought this activity to an end.
The mill then changed hands several times and remained inactive for a while. It was not until 1874 that two millers from Les Taillades bought it and converted it into a flour mill, an activity that continued until 1881.
In 1891, the Canal Mixte syndicate purchased the mill. A lease was signed in 1894 with Jean Baptiste Blanc, a professional miller, whose family would operate the site until 1970.
After the milling activity came to an end, the premises were rented out to various users. In 1981, the municipality of Les Taillades acquired the building and converted it into a village hall, meeting rooms, sports areas and technical workshops. One wing is also rented to a local business.
In recent years, the mill’s Courtyard has come to life every summer with cultural events, theatre, music and performances, that attract a wide audience and breathe new life into this historical site.
While walking through the village of Les Taillades, at the corner of the street that climbs from the town hall toward the church, you will notice an astonishing bas-relief carved directly into the rock. Probably created by a former quarryman, it depicts a bishop holding a crozier and wearing a pectoral adorned with a cross. Time, rain, mistral winds and sunlight have weathered the stone and enhanced the enigmatic nature of this figure.
Locally, this bas-relief is called “Le Morvelous”, literally “the Snotty One” in French. It may represent Saint Véran, the first bishop of Cavaillon, famous for having freed the Luberon from the fearsome Coulobre, a dragon that terrorised the region.
According to the legend, wounded by Saint Véran, the beast dug the Lourmarin combe with its tail before going to die in the Queyras. The village of Saint Véran, now considered one of the highest inhabited villages in Europe, is said to preserve his memory.
According to the popular tradition in Les Taillades, anyone who committed an offence was once tied in front of this bas-relief. Residents would throw stones at the person until their tears mixed with their mucus. This mixture, called morvelle, may explain the name Morvelous given to this figure of atonement.
Below the old village, the Saint Gens Chapel rises in the midst of lush greenery. Built in 1879, it was probably never used as a place of worship. Today, it houses a permanent exhibition dedicated to the tools once used by quarrymen. Picks, hammers, wedges and the famous crocodile saws known as “crocos des carriers”.
Gens Bournareau (or Bournarel) was born in 1104 in Monteux, in the diocese of Carpentras, into a family of cattle farmers. When his parents wanted to marry him off before he turned fifteen, he refused and chose a wandering life, begging for bread and sleeping under the stars.
In Monteux, when drought threatened the harvests, the inhabitants used to immerse the statue of Saint Raphael in a stream to bring rain. Gens protested against this practice, which he considered pagan, and broke the statue. He then announced that the rain would cease until these customs were abandoned. Driven out with stones, he left the village.
After two years of drought, the inhabitants of Monteux implored Gens to intercede for them. Before the procession organised with the priests had even ended, the rain began to fall on the region. From that moment on, Saint Gens was regarded as a rainmaker.
Wishing to live as a hermit, Gens then settled in the Beaucet valley, where he cultivated a plot of land with the help of two cows given by his father. Legend says that a wolf killed one of them. Gens managed to tame the animal and made it pull the plough alongside the surviving cow.
Among the miracles attributed to him, it is said that he made a spring of pure water flow from his fingers to give drink to the inhabitants and another spring of wine. Saint Gens died on 16 May 1127 at the age of 23.
The history of Les Taillades is closely linked to its stone quarries and to the quarrymen who shaped the landscape. The name of the village may come from the Provençal word talhada, meaning to cut or split, a direct reference to stone extraction.
The molasse on which the village is built was probably exploited as far back as Antiquity, although no document formally attests to this. Quarrying developed mainly from the Middle Ages onward and intensified in the following centuries.
In 1752, several extraction contracts were auctioned for a six year period. The finest blocks were then largely destined for export. In the nineteenth century, the activity continued and became more structured. Most of the quarries, located around the old village, give it today its spectacular mineral appearance.
In 1873, twelve quarries were recorded in Les Taillades. At its peak, quarrying employed up to 11 percent of the working population of the village. The activity gradually ceased around 1925. Over the years, the village ramparts were destroyed, but the tower was preserved. It stands on a rocky spur around which stone was extracted. The same applies to the church, perched on another promontory that escaped quarrying.
Among these sites, one of the former quarries has been converted into the Théâtre des Carrières. It is accessed by passing under a cut stone bridge, just as the workers once did. This remarkable venue is only open to the public during events and performances, which offer the opportunity to experience this mineral setting in a unique atmosphere.
The memory of the quarrymen can still be read in the landscape of Les Taillades. Carved cliffs, quarry faces and tool marks tell the story of stone working. To understand its full significance, the Saint Gens Chapel also evokes this heritage through a small dedicated exhibition that extends the discovery of this mineral legacy. It is a moving testimony to the work of the men who shaped the village as we know it today.
Les Taillades reveal a unique heritage where stone, history and nature intertwine. A village to explore with curiosity, following the rhythm of its lanes and sculpted landscapes.
