The calanque spirit
Small village of the Blue Coast, Ensuès remained outside of the tourist circuits for many years, it is still a confidential place today.
La Madrague* de Gignac is one of the oldest harbour on the Mediterranean coast.
The 5 small creeks of Ensuès have all preserved a habitat and a particular spirit that you can discover by coming to live to the rhythm of the madrague.
*La Madrague is a tuna fishing technique
La calanque du puits et la plage de l’escalayol
Learn more about the activities
in the calanque
The soul of the fishermen
If for many of us the word ‘madrague’ has no other meaning than that of a pleasant holiday place located by the sea, it meant, not so long ago, a huge fishing method intended mainly for catching tuna during their migration.
A fishing technique
The madrague was composed of a net wall (the tail of the madrague), about 400 m long. It connected the coast to the offshore places, the real trap.
The tuna, blocked by this wall, were directed towards to the trap where they were imprisoned in the first place (lou grandou). Then the fish were quickly directed to the second room (lou gardi) in order to free the ‘’reception’ room.
There they were kept alive while arranging transport and sale. When everything was ready the tuna were transferred to the place of death (lou corpou) where, brought to the surface, they were taken out of the water using metal hooks (lou ganchou)
Gérard Chevé
