The Dentelles de Montmirail owe their name to the shapes that erosion and time have given to their rocks today chiseled like a serrated ribbon and to a derivation of the Latin mons mirabilis which means admirable mountain in Montmirail. They form a triangular massif about 5 mi (8 km) long in the Vaucluse department north of Carpentras, south of Vaison-la-Romaine, and west of Mont Ventoux, visible in the background.