The queen stone of Vaucluse remains the Pierre du Midi, a limestone rock originally formed in a warm sea that dates back to the Miocene, more than twenty million years ago. Extracted for centuries from a hundred quarries, of which less than fifteen are still active today, it was used to build the houses, churches, castles, or cemeteries in the region's villages. The director of the Carrières de Provence, Paul Mariotta, aims at obtaining a protected geographical indication (PGI) for their Pierre du Midi.