Mines de Bruoux

The Bruoux mines are former ochre mines in Gargas, in Vaucluse. Ochre, a natural pigment known since prehistory, was mined there industrially from 1848 for more than a century. The miners, called ocriers, dug the galleries by hand and removed the ore with wagons drawn by horses. The site became a visitor attraction in 2009.

The network totals about forty kilometres of galleries, of which a route of about 700 metres is developed for the public. The galleries reach 5 to 12 metres high, and the temperature stays at about 10 to 12 °C, even in midsummer. The pillars and walls reveal shades of yellow, orange and red. Outside, the commune of Gargas is also marked by ochre mining, in a landscape typical of the Luberon.

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