Three views of Mont Sainte Victoire, near Aix en Provence.
The limestone mountain towers around a thousand metres between the valley of the river Durance and that of the Arc. The surrounding hills were fortresses for the Saluvii tribe around 30BC: the story is that they displayed the skulls of their vanquished enemies on the entrances their dwelling. The Saluvii were subjugated by armies under the command of the Roman consul Sextus, who founded the town which has become Aix en Provence. Mont Sainte Victoire and the Pays d’Aix are nowadays more well-known following the paintings of Paul Cézanne (he used a cabane on Mont Sainte Victoire), and the summer evenings of the piano music festival based in Silvercane abbey near the village of La Roque d’Anthéron.