Its spring has been the object of a major cult since Antiquity, and the Sorgue was used as a trade route by the Phoenicians of Massalia and later the Romans.

The village was razed shortly afterward by bandits, who withdrew at the sight of the intimidating episcopal seat.

A museum stands on the spot of Petrarch's house today, and the town is twinned with Arquà Petrarca, where the poet died.

Vaucluse was again popularized by a duel between the famous Honore Gabriel Riqueti and Louis-Francois de Galliffet.

A letter published by Riqueti brought fame to the area again, and a column was built to honour Petrarch in the eighteenth century.

In 1946, Jacques Cousteau and another diver nearly died while searching for the bottom of the spring due to contamination of their air supply by carbon monoxide.