Le Tholonet

Administration
Le Tholonet


Le Tholonet

Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Bouches-du-Rhône
Arrondissement	Aix-en-Provence
Canton	Aix-en-Provence-Nord-Est
Intercommunality	Pays d'Aix
Mayor	Michel Legier (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	150–350 m (490–1,150 ft) (avg. 193 m/633 ft)
Land area¹	10.82 km² (4.18 sq mi)
Population²	2,227 (2008)
- Density	206 /km² (530 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	13109/ 13100
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Le Tholonet (Lou Toulounet and Lo Tolonet in Provençal) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Tholonétiens.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Population
4 Sights
5 Media
6 Personalities
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
10 See also

Geography

The commune is near Aix-en-Provence, and at the foot of the montagne Sainte-Victoire. The river Arc goes through the commune.

The hamlet of Palette, which gives its name to the Palette AOC appellation, is located on the commune's territory.^[1]

History

The earliest signs of human presence can be dated back to the Iron Age, and are located in the Infernet and Espinades ranges^[2].

In the nineteenth century, a small oppidum named "Ragabom camp" or "Ratabom camp" was discovered at the Infernet site^[2]. The camp consists of fortifications build with large stone blocks. The ruins are barely discernible today. Archeological surveys done from 1979-1980 helped discover furnishings dated from the Iron Ages up to the 2nd century BC, a time when the site was highly populated^[2].

Population

Historical population of Le Tholonet
Year	1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851	1856
Population	470	350	489	465	501	514	540	504	602	546

Year	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896	1901	1906
Population	540	508	501	510	506	497	505	513	466	429

Year	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954	1962	1968	1975
Population	383	400	402	415	421	484	592	720	953	1137

Year	1982	1990	1999	2008
Population	1186	2004	2259	2227

Sights

The Château du Tholonet (in its current form) was built by Alexandre de Galliffet in the 1640s. Galliffet had bought the plot from the Jarente family, and was president of the Aix-en-Provence parliament. His grandson Louis-François added a theater for his mistress Émilie de Marignane, wife of the famous orator Mirabeau. A marble cutting mill was used for Tholonet marble, known under the name Brêche d'Alep. Currently, the domain is owned by the Société du Canal de Provence (SCP).
Ruins of the Roman aqueduct that brought water from Saint-Antonin to Aix-en-Provence. This fifteen-kilometre aqueduct bridge, located in the Cause ravine, had a rate of nearly 80 liters per second and was one of four aqueducts that supplied Aquae Sextiae, Aix-en-Provence during the Roman period. The Aix painter Jean-Antoine Constantin drew sketches of it, which are now in the Aix-en-Provence Méjanes libraries^[2].
An old windmill that has been restored. Currently it is used to host painting and sculpture exhibitions.

Media

Paul Cézanne, who painted Sainte-Victoire and the black castle at Tholonet, would often eat at the Berne restaurant, today named Relais Cézanne.
Jacqueline de Romilly, member of the Académie française, wrote the book Sur les chemins de Sainte-Victoire, published by Fallois (2001).
In 2006, Michel Bernascolle's book Les Rapegons de Sainte-Victoire was published by Cheminements.

Personalities

Georges Duby, a medieval historian and former member of the Académie française, is buried in Tholonet's small cemetery.

References

INSEE

^ Quid entry for Le Tholonet
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Carte archéologique de la Gaule : Aix-en-Provence, pays d'Aix, val de Durance", 13/4, Fl. Mocci, N. Nin (dir.), Paris, 2006, Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, ministère de l'Éducation nationale, ministère de la Recherche, ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, maison des Sciences de l'homme, centre Camille-Jullian, ville d'Aix-en-Provence, communauté du pays d'Aix, p. 684-90.