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All France Rustrel Ochre Quarry in Colorado Provençal

Ochre Quarry in Colorado Provençal

One of the largest ochre quarries in the world, hidden in a limestone landscape.

Rustrel, France

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Lew Blank
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GR6 trail through multiple pigments Colorado Provencal   Greudin / Public Domain
Hoodoos   dyonis / Some Rights Reserved
Path through ochre-colored rock   Eric Huybrechts / Some Rights Reserved
Different pigments   Guillaume Baviere / Some Rights Reserved
Tree on red rock   Guillaume Baviere / Some Rights Reserved
Contrast between white and ochre red   chario.be / Some Rights Reserved
Detail of one of the rocks   Andreas Tille / CC BY-SA 4.0
Panorama of hoodoos   Vincent / Public Domain
Panorama of Colorado Provencal   Vincent / Public Domain
  SyLoUrS / Atlas Obscura User
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The south of France is well known for the Mediterranean Riviera, colorful streets, and delicious food, but it isn’t typically associated with the American Southwest — that is, until you reach the “Colorado Provençal,” where visitors will feel like they're smack in the middle of Colorado, despite being just minutes away from Medieval villages and 12th century abbeys.

The region of Provence in southeastern France is covered seemingly endlessly in white limestone rock. Driving through, you’d assume no other type of rock could be found for hundreds of miles, which is what makes this unexpected ochre quarry so unusual — 75 acres of brilliantly colored, vertical rock, and then it’s back to limestone for miles.

How did this oddity come to be? It began millions of years ago, when over time, rushing water broke down the original limestone into iron-rich clay sands. These clay sands eventually formed into hoodoos — tall vertical spires — and had the hues of “ochre” — shades of orange, brown, and red — have been used throughout human history for burials, mummification, cave paintings, ancient Egyptian lip gloss, aboriginal Australian healing agents, and countless others. Ochre was also mixed with natural oil to create paint, which is a characteristic of many houses in Provence.

Needless to say, the demand for ochre was very high, and considering the Colorado Provençal was one of the largest ochre quarries in the world, with over 20 different pigments, the area was used for extracting purposes from the late 1600s to 1992, when the last “ocrier” retired.

Nowadays, the ochre-filled park has become a tourist attraction with three different trails where you can see the beautifully sculpted rock formations, a site that has managed to remain naturally beautiful despite being subject to human activity for three centuries.

Related Tags

Rock Formations Rocks Industrial Natural Wonders Geology Nature

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Added By

lewblank

Edited By

SyLoUrS

  • SyLoUrS

Published

July 5, 2016

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Sources
  • http://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/2009/03/ochre-the-colorado-proven%C3%A7al.html
  • https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_proven%C3%A7al
  • http://www.metric-conversions.org/area/square-miles-to-acres.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence-Alpes-C%C3%B4te_d%27Azur
  • http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/explore/roussillon-and-the-land-of-ochre-39-1.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochre
Ochre Quarry in Colorado Provençal
Rustrel, 84400
France
43.91332, 5.496255

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