Céreste-en-Luberon
Céreste-en-Luberon is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is known for its rich fossil beds in fine layers of "Calcaire de Campagne Calavon" limestone, which are now protected by the Parc naturel [régional du Luberon] and the Réserve naturelle géologique du Luberon.
Geography
The river Calavon forms the commune's northern and northwestern borders.History
A Gallo-Roman period settlement was established in the quarter of today's Saint-Sauveur priory, possibly as a crossing control point for the river. Surviving relics of the Roman period include a potters' oven, an ancient tomb and Sarcophagi at Saint-Sauveur.The Priory of Carluc was founded in the eleventh century. Another priory, that of Saint-Sauveur-Au-Pont, belonged during the twelfth and thirteenth century to the Abbey of Saint Andrew at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The fiefdom was held initially by the Forcalquiers, and later by the Brancas family.
By the start of the eighteenth century, the Estieu brothers were running a pottery oven.
During the French Revolution the commune had its own Patriotic Society, a variation on the Jacobin Club theme, created in this case soon after 1792.