Provence is the land of stone shelters called bories. They are all designed a little differently and here, right next to the road, is a particularly large round building. It is free to visit.

Description

Bories are former shelters that shepherds built using locally available limestone slabs. The simplest form has a round base over which a dome in the shape of a sugar loaf is erected. In this case, the stone slabs are aligned in such a way that they are slightly inclined outwards so that rainwater is drained there. However, the dry stone construction presented here is executed differently:

This shelter is larger, you can enter without bending down and the walls inside are over three meters high. This size requires a different design. The round wall is significantly thicker and more upright than a classic borie.

The round roof placed on top of it is again built like a normal borie, with plates inclined outwards. It rises quite high. There is a outlet hole in the middle, you can also see soot on the ceiling.

Site history

There is no historical record of this borie, but similar structures were mostly built in the area around 1900. Although they are more comfortable because of their size, this design is not as durable. Many similar shelters have long collapsed since.

Access by public transport

Mane can be reached by bus line 62 (Avignon-Digne). Line 480 runs between Manosque and Forcalquier. More information at Zou! (only french).

You can walk from Mane to the stone shelter: from the main road we go up the lane where there is a large wayside cross. We now go up through the settlement area without branching off sharply. After about five minutes we come to a driveway and a parallel gravel path on the left, but we stay on the asphalt road. It continues to ascend and turns around a twin-house. At the top we turn left, go under a few trees and then straight ahead on a little-used forest road. At a Y-junction we turn right and then look out for a vertical aisle in the forest. Here left up to the road D950, now left and shortly afterwards we see the stone building on the right in the forest. See also the map on this page.

Access by car

Coming from Forcalquier we drive to Mane, but at the big roundabout in front we take the detour to Banon. The road ascends and after the last houses are behind us, a very straight stretch of road follows. We see a first forest road on the right leading up into the forest and a few hundred meters further on there is another road up to the right, this one is asphalted. Here you should park the vehicle on one of the two sides of the road, because there is no shoulder to stop directly at the Borie.

From Apt you go to Mane, cross the town and at the roundabout turn left towards Banon. Then as described above.

From Sault or Banon, take the direction of Forcalquier. After Limans, the D950 road is fairly straight and you pass over the Retenue de la Laye reservoir. A sharp left turn follows at a ridge, then a long and straight section begins. You can now quickly see the borie on the left.

Parking site

You drive a little further to a junction where you can stop at both sides of the road.