Les Mées is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.

The Bléone River forms the commune's northern border, then flows into the Durance, which forms the commune's western border.

Les Pénitents or Rochers des Mées is a cliff overlooking the village of Les Mées.

Erosion has cut into and modelled the formation of puddingstone, giving the cliff conical shapes that can make one think of an alignment of characters in homespun robes, hence the toponym.

These geological particularities also fed the imagination of our ancestors. Indeed, this ogival shape, directly cut in the stone, appearing like a piece of the past frozen in the massif, would be of mystical origin.

One of the main legends surrounding these rocks has its origins in the Middle Ages. After seeing the Saracens beaten, Count Raimbaud reportedly brought back seven of their most beautiful women from the Crusades in order to take them to his castle, but threatened with excommunication, he was reportedly forced to release them and deliver them to a monastery near 'Arles. The monks of the mountain of Lure would then have been responsible for accompanying them to the Durance where a boat was to welcome them.

In order not to succumb to desire, the monks wore large hoods pulled down over their faces. According to legend, the devil would then have caused such a violent wind to blow that the hoods were lifted as the beautiful Saracens passed by, allowing the monks to admire them. Immediately, thunder struck them and transformed them into a long procession of stone. These points of rock would be the hoods of these monks, who would have been punished for having set eyes on the young women they had to escort. The hedge of monks became stone and the only element that escaped this transformation is the wooden cross, which one of them wore around his neck. This one is moreover always visible, trapped in time.

Finally, it is said that when mercy is granted, time will resume its rights and the monks, under their stone hoods, will turn to dust again, dragging this particular mountainside with them.

On December 2, 2019, one of the "Penitents" of the town, one of these large rocks of around 3,000 sq m which overlook the village, collapsed. According to the prefecture, which highlights the very unfavorable weather conditions of the previous days, part of the ground has become unstable. The incident occurred around 4:15 pm, causing at least two injuries and causing the destruction of three houses and two others are partially destroyed. A major gas and power outage was caused by the landslide. The Prefecture which evokes about fifty firefighters mobilized with dog handlers.

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