Forêt de la Sainte-Baume (hêtraie de la forêt sacrée)

Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume

At the foot of the cliff of the Sainte-Baume, the forest is not a backdrop: it is part of the holy place. The name comes from the Provençal baumo, the cave, the one where, according to tradition, Mary Magdalene spent her last thirty years after evangelising Provence. The pilgrimage is attested there since the 11th century, and more than forty sovereigns are said to have come to pray; Saint Louis is cited, on 22 July 1254, and Louis XIV in 1660. In 1279 Charles II of Anjou, count of Provence, had excavations made at Saint-Maximin, where the relics attributed to the saint were discovered; in 1295 the Dominicans settled on the mountain. The Ligurians, Greeks and Romans are said already to have seen there a place of fertility goddesses, according to the ONF. The forest itself is a rarity: on the cooler north slope survives a ‘relict’ beech wood with very old oaks, yews and Scots pines, far from the Mediterranean. Listed in 1945, a biological reserve since 1982, it received in 2018 the Forêt d'exception label. Hunting is forbidden there to protect this environment. One climbs on foot, in silence, to the cave kept by the Dominicans.

Getting there: State forest, open all year from October to May; from June to September, access to the massifs is regulated by the prefectures because of the fire risk (maps updated every evening). In the reserve: dogs on a lead, picking, fires, bivouac and motor vehicles forbidden. Main car park on the D80, about 4 km from the village; the cave is a 45-minute walk from the hostelry. No toilets. The forest extends over the Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône. Approximate coordinates: position of the Commons photo of the beech wood from the Pas de la Cabré, not taken from an official page; they are about 540 m from the cave already present in the app.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound