What does a town do with a vast web of stone quarries with a “Closed” sign on every door? The folks in Les Baux-de-Provence turned theirs into the largest permanent multimedia show in France. Carrières de Lumières (formerly called Cathédral d’Images) is a smashing success. Close to 400,000 visitors attended last year’s show. For over 2000 years, the quarries in Les Baux-de-Provence were a primary source of limestone for this area. The Romans exploited the quarries for material to rebuild the nearby Celto-Liguirian town of Glanum back in 200 BC and later the Municipal Arch and the Mausoleum that still stand across from Glanum. The Roman city of Arles rose up from the ground with limestone carted over from Les Baux. In the 11th century, the notorious Lords of les Baux built their formidable citadel out of limestone from these neighboring quarries. In the 14th century, the ramparts of Aigues-Mortes were created with massive stones from Les Baux (and Beaucaire). These quarries, which came to be known as Les Carrières du Val d’Enfer or the Quarries in the Valley of Hell, continued to provide limestone until they were closed in 1935. The first time the [...]