Located between the city of Aix and the Sainte-Victoire mountain, the Bibémus Quarries have played a key role in the history of the city since its founding. They also inspired a world-renowned artist: Cézanne.
The origin of the name Bibémus
Almost all the inhabitants of Aix-en-Provence, or at least the vast majority, have heard of the Bibémus Quarries. However, few know the origin and meaning of this name. But where does it come from?
As one might expect, Bibémus is a word of Latin origin. When Aix-en-Provence was founded in 122 BC, the stone from these quarries was used by the Romans to build the city. It was the Romans who named both the quarry and the stone they extracted. Being pragmatic, they called it Bibemus, derived from the Latin verb bibere, which means “to drink” (beber in Spanish and Portuguese, biberon in French, etc.).
But why this name? Because the stone they quarried at Bibémus, which can still be seen today, is porous. Indeed, it is a stone that “drinks” water!
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The exploitation of the Bibémus Quarries
The Bibémus Quarries had a long lifespan, with their exploitation continuing until the last century. Of course, the demand fluctuated over time. The Romans used the stone to build the city walls. The inhabitants built their homes with it. Later, the builders of the private mansions from the 17th to the 19th centuries also used this stone.
A method of extraction unchanged until the 19th century.
In Roman times
Most of the inhabitants of Aix-en-Provence, or at least the vast majority, have heard of the Bibémus Quarries. However, few know the origin and meaning of this name. But where does it come from?
As one might expect, Bibémus is a word of Latin origin. Indeed, since the founding of Aix-en-Provence in 122 BC (or -122 BCE, if you prefer), the stone from the quarries was used by the Romans to build the city. It was therefore the Romans who gave the quarry and the stone they extracted its name. Pragmatic as they were, they called it Bibemus, from the Latin verb bibere, which means “to drink” (similar to beber in Spanish and Portuguese, biberon in French, etc.).
But why this name? Because the stone they extracted from the Bibémus quarries, which we can still see today, is porous. Yes! It is a stone that “drinks” water.
On the quarry faces, the marks of the picks are still clearly visible.
The large-scale exploitation of the 17th century
These methods were used for several centuries with some variations. Notably, the extraction process shifted from horizontal to vertical. Many extraction shafts are still visible today. These shafts are trapezoidal in shape, with the smallest face serving as the “entrance” and the largest as the base. This way, the quarrymen could more easily and quickly reach the higher-quality stone. This stone was used for the construction of the city’s private mansions in Aix-en-Provence.
A private mansion in Aix-en-Provence
Today, the stone from Bibémus adorns many facades in the historic center, although in some places, the stone from Rognes has replaced it. This stone gives Aix-en-Provence its distinctive ochre hue, especially on the Cours Mirabeau and in the old town. It is a stone that illuminates the city whenever the rare clouds veil the sun.
In the 19th century, the quarrying stopped. The stone had developed a bad reputation. Indeed, it is brittle and does not withstand rain well. This turned out to be beneficial for Cézanne, who, knowing the quarries were abandoned, came to be inspired by the calm of nature.
The last exploitation of the Bibémus quarries
But the story of the exploitation of Bibémus doesn’t end there! In the 1940s, the son of Cézanne’s friend, who owned the quarries, made modifications to transform the stone into preparation for cement. You can still see the remnants of a grinding wheel and the quarry faces hollowed out by mechanical buckets. However, the exploitation was short-lived, as cement inherited the stone’s bad reputation. From then on, the site became a place dedicated to the memory of Cézanne.
Sainte-Victoire, Bibémus, and Cézanne
Born in 1839 and dying in Aix-en-Provence in 1906, Cézanne, along with other artists, challenged academic art. Thanks to the new technologies of the mid-19th century and the innovative ideas of the painters of that time, a new era began for art. Cézanne would become one of its leading figures.
Cézanne, the misunderstood
A great artist of the 19th century, Cézanne became the father of modernity. Through his style and theories, he opened the doors to modern art. He was not alone, of course. Others, like Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, and Pissarro, would also influence the course of art history. However, Cézanne followed a path of his own, far from the bustling life of Paris. Rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts, he would gradually be sidelined from the independent salons as well. His contemporaries generally did not appreciate his work, with a few exceptions. In Aix, Cézanne was the son of a banker who passed the time through painting.
Nature as a model
In the final part of his career, Cézanne chose to free himself from the fashionable movements of the time, while drawing inspiration from what he had learned and shared with other artists of his era. Cézanne painted “sur le motif”, meaning directly on location. The artist captured nature, expressing his sensations and feelings on the canvas. Here, in the quarries, he was inspired by the geometric shapes scattered throughout the surroundings—forms that were both human and natural.
Paul Cezanne
Painting from nature is not about copying what is seen, but about expressing one's sensations.
He roamed nature in search of form and color. He did not seek to please, quite the opposite. In fact, he sometimes mistrusted the approval of others. Cézanne had his own style, and he defended it until the end of his life. His legacy has proven him right, but during his lifetime, Cézanne never achieved great fame. It was only towards the end of his life that he began to gain recognition from some of his peers. However, it was too little, too late, and not a single painting by the artist was owned by the city during his lifetime. It would take many years before one of Cézanne’s paintings was displayed in the museum of his hometown.
Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne’s muse
The Sainte-Victoire Mountain is known worldwide thanks to Cézanne. He painted it 87 times, with about half in oil and the other half in watercolor. As a result, the Sainte-Victoire Mountain is present in many countries, notably in the United States and England. It represents the pinnacle of Cézanne’s work and his obsession.
Paul Cezanne
"Everything in nature is modeled on the sphere, the cone, and the cylinder; one must learn to paint with these simple shapes, and then one can do anything."
In the Bibémus quarries, Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire just over a dozen times. The triangular shape of the mountain aligns with the Provençal colors he cherished (ochre, green, and blue). It is massive, omnipresent in the canvas. The mountain takes form through color, as Cézanne did not use outlines that would constrain his nuances. No, he created shapes through directional brushstrokes. He sought complementarity, perfection. His perfection.
Since Cézanne’s passing, the Bibémus quarries and the mountain continue to inspire artists. Tal Coat, André Masson, and Fabienne Verdier, among others, have passed through Aix-en-Provence. They all, more or less, followed in Cézanne’s footsteps. Picasso, a great admirer, even bought the Château de Vauvenargues to be closer to the Cézanne-inspired landscape. It is here that he spent his final days.
A few words to end on the Bibémus quarries!
I warmly invite you to visit the Bibémus plateau to soak in the place and its history while respecting the access conditions during the summer. The quarries themselves are restricted access and belong to the city. By the way, if you’d like to visit the Bibémus quarries with a guide, Jérôme, Mylène, and I would be delighted to show you around! In 2022, we even offer public tours of the quarries!
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