Gordes (French pronunciation: [ɡɔʁd]; Occitan: Gòrda) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.

It is located on the outskirts of the Park in the Monts de Vaucluse, which faces the northern slope of the Luberon mountain.

Perched on a rock, the town is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association due to its rich and varied heritage: two abbeys, a castle, many old hamlets, several hundred dry stone huts (bories), several windmills and water-mills, fountains, wash houses, and bories, a type of basin chiseled in rock.

Neighboring villages are Venasque and Murs to the north, Joucas and Roussillon to the east, Goult, Saint-Pantaléon, Beaumettes and Oppède to the south and Cabrières-d'Avignon and Saumane-de-Vaucluse to the west.

The village itself is located in the center of the commune, on a giant calcareous rock from the Vaucluse Mountains, dominating the valley.

In the north, on the Vaucluse Mountains, are soils dating mainly from the Upper Jurassic with Urgonian limestone and calcareous clay.

There are also, in very low amounts and primarily localized over the Senanque Abbey, soils dating from the Eocene/Oligocene, composed of limestone, sand, and clay.

The hills area of "les garrigues" (in the south) is composed of soil dating from the Cretaceous – Paleocene period (calcareous sandstone, calcareous lacustrine clay, colorful, white and ocher sands and some ferruginous) and from the Miocene period (molasses limestone, sand and marl).

Finally, the soil of the territory down to the plain of Calavon with some slightly higher ground dating from the Miocene and one lower from the Quaternary.

[5] The area is full of evidence of their occupation especially the Roman road passing through Apt and Carpentras and crossing the valley.

During World War II, Gordes was an active resistance village and was later awarded a medal, the Croix de guerre 1939–1945.

On 21 August 1944, almost a week after the beginning of the Operation Dragoon on the Provençal coast, a German patrol was attacked by the resistance.

On the other side of the village, the rest of the troops set fire to a chariot, pieces of wood and houses, blocking potential followers.

After a period of reconstruction, the village began to attract artists including Marc Chagall and Jean Deyrolle [fr], who discovered the village in 1947, and who attracted their artist friends including Serge Poliakoff, Victor Vasarely and Jean Dewasne [fr].

[citation needed] The primary ones are reported in 1696 in the Armorial Général de France and coming from the Gordes-Simiane family.

Located in the middle of the village, the castle, which was partially rebuilt in Renaissance style in 1525, is a major tourist attraction.

[15] In the surrounding towns, other tourist locations may be found, such as the Fontaine de Vaucluse, Roussillon or L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, the Luberon area, Avignon or the Mont Ventoux.

Gordes also attracts artisans and traders in the real estate business like agents, architects, builders, landscapers, decorators and masons.

[16] The commune is equipped with various sporting facilities including two football/soccer fields, walking and cycling trails, pétanque and other recreational spaces.