Saint-Paul-lès-Durance (, literally Saint-Paul near Durance; also spelled Saint-Paul-lez-Durance; Provençal: Sant Pau de Durença) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in Provence, southern France.
The Cadarache research center for nuclear energy is located in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance and next to it the international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject ITER one of the most expensive buildings ever built and the largest scientific research collaboration in history.
The town was established in the 10th centuryDaniel Mouton, "Les fortifications de terre de la Provence médiévale : l’exemple du bassin de la Durance moyenne", Bastides, bories, hameaux. L’habitat dispersé en Provence, Actes des 2e journées d’histoire régionale de Mouans-Sartoux, 15 et 16 mars 1985, Mouans-Sartoux, Centre régional de documentation occitane, 1986, p. 118 and has around 1,000 inhabitants, a school, a church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Aix, a 15th-century château, and a little shopping center.
Population
See also Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
References
External links Town council website Saint-Paul-lès-Durance on the Quid Web site Picture of the belltower of the church of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance Tax information about Saint-Paul-lès-Durance Financial information about the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance Weather in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance