Once upon a time... Le Mas de La Baou
Whence this name?
It is typically Provencal: in Provence, a "mas" means a farm. And a "baou" (or "bau") in Provence, it is a cliff, a rock. The Mas de La Baou is well named, since it is built on a small cliff along the stream Encrême.
Originally:
Céreste has always been a crossroad. This large farm, looking like a fortified farm,, a little apart from the village, was probably playing a specific role..
A provencal "mas" : Later, it became a farm, which was a dependency of the castle of Céreste.
La Bastide, the farmhouse, facing the village and south, was housing tenants.
The larger building facing west, was the sheephold, which housed 300 ewes.
Upstairs was stored hay, which was carried up with carts pushed backwards by oxen along the ramp. It was the hayloft, "La Fenière"
Other smaller buildings were used for other animals: chicken coop, barn, pigsty ..
The restoration of the mas:
The restoration dates from 2009, and required a year and a half of work. The entire farm was abandoned and severely degraded. It was restored to enhance this fine example of traditional rural architecture. Upon request of the owners, artisans from Céreste and surroundings have therefore tried to scrupulously respect the architecture and old materials, and work in the context of "green" building and eco-citizenship. The renovated building has got the label of the Heritage Foundation (Fondation du Patrimoine).
Past traces: A paved threshing area, amazing holes in stones...
In the sheephold (now owners'home) curious pierced stones catch the eye: they were water pipes from Céreste Castle, cleverly reused at the time of destruction of the castle, in order to introduce in the walls fences for stables.
A large threshing area, paved in the old style, has been found out on the plateau.
Just behind the mas, the small "bridge of la Baou" over the river l’Encrême, is also named localy « le pont romain »: the roman bridge. In reality, it is not roman!