At the top of the Alpilles ridge, 7km southwest of St Remy, lies the distinctly unreal fortified village of Les Baux, where the ruined 12th century citadel is hard to distinguish from the edge of the plateau. Once Les Baux was a thriving village with a population of 6,000 inhabitants. It fell into ruin in the 17th century, but was reinhabited with the discovery of bauxite (from which its name derives) in neighbouring hills.
