The Sainte-Baume forest

At the foot of the north cliff of the Sainte-Baume, between 320 and 1,147 metres, the state forest covers 2,076 hectares. Its central part is a pure beech wood that climbs to the col du Saint-Pilon, at 952 metres, accompanied by yew, holly, maple, lime and rowan: a mid-mountain flora, a world away from the surrounding scrubland.

A microclimate

The forest survives thanks to the climate it maintains itself. The northern exposure, the shade of the cliff and the dense vegetation retain moisture; rainfall reaches 1,000 to 1,200 millimetres a year, nearly twice that of Marseille. This is what allows the beech to survive here, a few dozen kilometres from the sea.

Fifteen centuries of protection

The forest owes its survival to the religious communities that keep the sanctuary: from the 5th century, then with the Dominicans from 1295 and again after their return in 1859, the sacred forest was spared the felling and grazing that deforested the rest of Provence. Today hunting is forbidden there, two biological reserves protect the old-growth stand of the Sainte-Baume and the Castelette valley, and the whole is part of the Natura 2000 network.

Walking through it

The sentier Merveilleux, at the foot of the rock wall, is the best introduction: two and a half hours without difficulty in the best-preserved part of the forest. The chemin des Roys and the chemin du Canapé cross it on the way up to the grotto. Dogs must be kept on a lead, and access is regulated in summer according to the fire risk.