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 The ruins of Les Baux is located in the extreme west of Provence on the southern edge of the Alpilles, just a few km from St. Remy de Provence. This unique ruined site is located on the plateau of a rock mass which rises above the Lower Town. The entire area can be visited only on foot. Parking is available outside the entrance to the Lower Town.
This elevated site was settled as long ago as the Early Stone Age. The first signs of overlords in Les Baux are found around the year 950. In the 12th and 13th C. Les Baux, which is Provençal for the Rocks, was the chief town of a county which embraced a great part of Provence and numbered more than 3,000 inhabitants. Being a stronghold of the Huguenots - there still exists a window from the former Protestant church of 1571 with the watchword "post tenebras lux", or "after the dark comes light" - and a refuge for rebels from Aix, in 1631 Louis XIII ordered the Duke of Guise to lay siege to the town and take it. The inhabitants wanted peace, and asked the king to take control of the town and to tear down the fortifications at their expense. This was done two years later. In 1642 Les Baux was given as a gift to the Grimaldi family. They remained Dukes of Les Baux until 1791, when they were dispossessed during a revolution. Charles Maxime de Grimaldi, who died in 1880, was the last to hold the title of Marquis des Baux.
According to the guide books, the best time of day to visit the Upper Town of Les Baux-de-Provence is in the evening, in order to experience the special light when the sun goes down; the ticket office is open until 7 p.m., but visitors can of course stay in the Upper Town later than that.
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