Forcalquier 5.11

Forcalquier is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about 30km south of Sisteron and 10km west of the Durance river. In the Middle Ages it was the capital of Haute-Provence.HistoryFurnus Calcarius was the Latin name, from the lime kilns used in Roman times. (A Roman bridge still stands in the valley to the south of the town.) Its Provençal name is Fourcauquié. At the end of the 11th century, a family of the Counts of Provence created the comté de Forcalquier that remained an independent state through the 12th century.During this time, the town of Forcalquier was the capital of Haute Provence along the Durance, which included the towns of Manosque, Sisteron, Gap and Embrun. Forcalquier minted its own currency, and its church was elevated to the status of a "concathedral".The Counts of Forcalquier grew to a power that could defy the Counts of Provence. Rivalry ended in 1195 when Gersende de Sabran, comtesse de Forcalquier, married Alfonso II, the Count of Provence. Their son, Ramon Bérenger IV inherited the two counties.