The story of this place
The Gorges du Verdon, carved by the turquoise Verdon river through the limestone of Provence, plunge up to 700 metres deep over some 25 kilometres, making them the grandest canyon in Europe. So forbidding and inaccessible were its depths that they remained largely unknown until 1905, when speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel led the first full expedition through the gorge, opening it to science and eventually tourism. The trail that bears his name, the Sentier Martel, still threads the canyon floor through tunnels and ladders. In 1974 the river was dammed to form the vivid Lac de Sainte-Croix at its mouth. The gorge is now a mecca for climbers, kayakers and the vultures reintroduced to its cliffs.