The Serre de l'Aigle

Around the Estang valley, there are many names of places that are linked to water. "L'estang" (étang means pond in French) lets you guess the presence of a pond that probably used to be landscaped, but that has long since dried up. The "font du Roure" reminds us that, in Provençal, "font" means "source" and not fountain. And "roure" means “oak”. The "Grand Raille" is the river at the bottom of the valley, while the "Esserennes" designates a remote place (from the village) where there would be water.

Colonized by the Romans in 118 BC., Provence was divided into cities. For the Baronnies, Vaison and Luc-en-Diois were the two capitals of the Voconces city which dominated the region. Within these, there were divisions called "pagus" (lands). This latin term lasted for a long time and, in 988, a donation charter to the abbey of Cluny of Saint-André de Rosans, evoked the "Pagus Rosanensis". Some names of places were already mentioned, such as Rosans, Chapaïsses, Sironne or Roussieux.

On this side of the Serre de l'Aigle exposed to the adret, the forest is held back by an ovine pasture allowing to keep open environments. The fence along the trail testifies that the herds of sheep that graze in this moor are not here in summer, but that the breeder probably leads them all year round, as long as there is grass: The challenge is that the animals feed well but that the grass resource also persists.

Mentioned since 988, Rosans and its church of Saint-Arey certainly look different today, but their antiquity is real. To the west of the village is the Oche district, which is a Gallic name for a cleared area on the outskirts of the village. A "large meadow" and an "orchard", to the west and east show what type of agricultural valuation existed in the Middle Ages. To the east of the village, the clayey hillock of Saint Esteve seems to indicate Saint-Etienne, a long-forgotten church.

The square tower, located in the center of the medieval village of Rosans, dates from the 12th century. The walls are made of diamond-cut stone blocks, four meters thick, and each face looks at one of the four cardinal points, so that when three of its sides are in the shade, it marks the hour of noon. This tower, wrongly called "Tour Sarrasine" is not an example of the Moorish architecture in the South of France. The building is listed as a historical monument since 1932.

It is estimated that the village of Rosans was founded in the 8th century after the passage of the Lombards and the Sarasins. From the top of its small hill, the village has a good monitoring capacity and a defensive advantage. A rampart that we still use to reach the heart of Rosans, surrounded the village. In the 14th century, the village was invaded by the Provençaux but resisted thanks to its garrison and its ramparts.