Fontaine de Vaucluse, Karst spring in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, France

The Fontaine de Vaucluse is a karst spring that emerges from a limestone cliff face, forming a deep blue pool where the River Sorgue begins its flow. The water rises from an opening in the rock and spreads across a natural basin surrounded by towering stone walls.

In antiquity the spring was a place of ritual offerings; divers have recovered 1,600 coins and objects dating from the 1st century BC to the mid-5th century AD. The first heavy-gear dive was made by Nello Ottonelli in 1878 to 23 m. Jacques Cousteau reached 46 m in 1946 and 74 m nine years later, and in 1985 the robot Modexa 350 touched bottom at 305 m.

The Provençal name is Fònt de Vauclusa, from Latin Vallis Clausa, the closed valley that gave both the spring and the department their name. In Provençal, font means both fountain and spring, and here it designates the spring. A legend tells that Saint Veranus, bishop of Cavaillon, drove the winged dragon Coulobre out of the Sorgue; the Traou dou Couloubre on the trail marks this fight.

Access to the pool and the cliff walls has been closed since May 2025 because of rockfall and collapse risk in the shaft. The site lies at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse in the commune of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, where the Sorgue begins its course. Check locally before travelling, as the closure affects the approach to the water's edge.

The coins and objects recovered from the pool number 1,600 and date from the 1st century BC to the mid-5th century AD. The submarine Spélénaute let divers work between 40 and 80 metres deep in 2001, and 400 pieces were brought up the following year.