Village perché
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A village perché is a village perched at the top of a relief, most commonly found in France. Naturally difficult to access, often with ramparts, 'villages perchés' are for the most part fortified settlements dating from the Middle Ages. Many are located in the south-east of France in the present Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, this type of habitat considered typical of Provence. The villages, situated on their "rocky acropolis", have retained their medieval appearance, from the orientation of the facades of their houses - towards the valley or the road of communication - a true front of fortification.[1] Fernand Benoit emphasizes their occasional prehistoric origin by pointing out that Cicero, in reference to the Ligurians who inhabited the region, called them castellani, inhabitants of the castellas (Brutus, LXXIII, 256).
'Villages perchés' are found mainly in hilly areas where soil is poor and water scarce. This is generally case in Provence except in the lower Rhone valley and in the Durance valley, where alluvial land abounds and water is easily accessible from a well dug in the courtyard of the house.[1] Moreover, this grouping in a community closed in on itself corresponds to regions of small properties, where the only fertile lands are situated at the bottom of a few valleys, and this aggregation has facilitated the existence of rural handicraft indispensable to the villagers. Conversely, the dispersed habitat implies larger, wealthier estates, hence the aphorism penned by Fernand Benoit: "Poverty concentrates the habitat, wealth disperses it".[1]
