For centuries La Blanche valley has been a privileged site for mule-breeding. A cross-breed of donkey and mare, it is a robust, sure-footed, courageous and intelligent animal, particularly suited to agricultural work in the mountains.
The Maison du Mulet (Mule Farm & Appreciation Centre) will help you discover this endearing animal and the local traditions associated with the mule.
During the great glacial movements and extensions of the Quaternary period, the Seyne valley was invaded by the Ubaye glacier and to a lesser extent by the Durance glacier.
The glacier advanced through the Col Saint-Jean mountain-pass into the whole valley as far as the Col de Maure mountain-pass and the Col de Fanget mountain-pass
It is likely that the ice was several hundred metres thick and that the surface of the glacier at its maximum was around 1,700m in altitude.
La Grosse-Pierre (The Large Stone) is an erratic block, i.e. transported by the glacier and deposited here when the glacier melted.
It is a huge piece of sandstone whose mass can be estimated at around 550 tonnes.
It was only in the second half of the 19th century, after much controversy, that the geodynamic significance of the erratic blocks was recognised.
It is generally attributed to Würm Glaciation, which occurred around 20,000 years ago and was the last glaciation period. It was preceded by Riss Glaciation (325,000 to 130,000 years ago) which was more extensive.
Its presence illustrates the fact that until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the Ubaye valley belonged to Savoy. It was Vauban who fortified the site by integrating the old 13th century tower. This medieval watchtower allows you to admire the landscape of the Seyne valley and houses an artwork installation by Mark Dion, Le donjon de l'ours (The Bear Dungeon), created as part of the Franco-Italian exchange programme VIAPAC.
The citadel has been classified and listed as a historical monument since 1978.
Dating from the 12th century, it is a fine example of the Alpine Romanesque style. The single nave is composed of three bays which open onto a quire flat chevet (like Notre Dame du Bourg in Digne for example). Before the quire, two chapels form a false transept. The western façade is decorated with a large rosette window above the portal. The second portal, on the south façade, is in the Gothic style of the 13th or 14th century.
The Alpine-style bell tower was built after the Wars of Religion.
Thyme, rosemary, basil, savory, sage and lavender belong to the Lamiaceae family and produce essential oils.
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
In addition to its culinary virtues, thyme is used in hot-water-infusions against respiratory tract infections, as a disinfectant for mouth ailments, as an inhalent for respiratory rhinitis, to improve digestive disorders and as a marinating element in alcohol (farigoule), "Leave it, don't remove it!"
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
There are more than 150 varieties and some can grow up to 2m high. The food variety can be grown in gardens. It is a melliferous plant (enabling the production of Rosemary Honey or Narbonne Honey) used in maritime medicine since the 18th century (having choleretic, antibacterial, antiasthenic, antispasmodic, antioxidant properties). Its hot-water-infusions are sometimes used to flavour desserts. The essence has been used in perfumery since the 17th century but the oil may trigger convulsions.
The Ophelia water-well was drilled in 1995 to enable and to ensure the thermal-water supply to the Digne-les-Bains Thermal Baths. It was approved by the Academy of Medicine in 1996.
Located in the Toarcian-Aalenian bedrock, the drilling passed through the Jurassic layers, a thickness of 870m, to extract water at 48°C with a flow rate of 40 m3 / hour.
This highly mineralised water (10g/l) is chlorinated, sulphated, calcic and sodic. It acquires this mineralisation following an underground journey of nearly 50 years, passing over the evaporitic levels of the Triassic period. It has been recognised as having medicianal benefits for rheumatism, joint pain and respiratory tract diseases.
During the Secondary Era (or Mesozoic period), thick geological marl formations (a mixture of clay and limestone) were deposited several times in our region. The first level, at our feet, dates back to the Lias period, a period of the Secondary Era dating from 185 to 170 million years ago.
It corresponds to a period of the deepening of the Alpine Sea, which hosted vast quantities of silty-quartz sediments in an oxygen-poor environment, which is the origin of the black colour of these rocks.
The enrichment of the sediment in limestone gives a harder rock which better resists erosion creating the Feston Ridge.
At La Robine-sur-Galabre, the fossil remains of an ichthyosaur from the Lias period is preserved and presented on site, being made securely accessible by the Geological Nature Reserve of Haute-Provence .
At least two other occurrences of black marl deposition are known in the region: in the upper Jurassic period and in the mid-Cretaceous period. It is from this last period that the ichthyosaurus of Chanolles (in the Municipal District of Prads Haute-Bléone) dates, where the site has been secured and managed for public-visits by the Geological Nature Reserve of Haute-Provence.
These different geological formations, more or less completely exposed, reveal local fossils (ammonites, bivalves, vertebrates) which are protected by the Geological Nature Reserve of Haute-Provence.
In 1180, there were three churches in Marcoux: Saint-Étienne's Church, Saint-Marcellin's Church and Saint-Martin's Church. Saint-Étienne's is the current Parish Church, Saint-Martin's was bought as a national asset during the Revolution and Saint-Marcellin's disappeared without a trace.
Saint-Etienne's Church, built at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century, was part of the Cathedral Chapter of Digne until 1476 when it was transfered to the Bishop who was the Lord of Marcoux and remained so until the end of the Old Regime.
The building, with three vaulted bays with a barrel vault leading to a semi-circular apse, was listed as Architectural Heritage of Importance in 1927. The 1651 altar was listed in 1908 and the 1699 bell was listed in 1989.
The bell tower and belfry (built by Auguste Pellegrin, a locksmith in Digne) date from 1889, replacing a wall-belfry whose exact date of construction is unknown and which may not have been the first in this church.
Next to the church, three large limestone stones with notches in them can be seen, which probably come from the walnut-oil mill built on the banks of the Bléone river. It operated from 1635 to 1893. Recovered after the demolition of the mill by the floods in 1898, the large stones have been installed there since 1998.
From The Life & Times in Marcoux from 14th to the 19th Century - M.P. Baume
Between December 2002 and May 2003, after a very rainy period, a large-scale landslide occurred at the foot of the La Barre des Dourbes mountain. The entire slope between the hamlets of Villard des Dourbes and Vaumet was destabilised by this landslide of the Jurassic period's black earth. A smaller landslide had previously occurred higher uphill in May 2002.
With this landslide, which was 3km long and 250 to 300 metres wide, around 70 hectares of land were moved to a depth of 10 to 20 metres. This corresponds to nearly 10 million cubic metres of displaced material with recorded speeds of up to 10 metres per day.
Fortunately, this large-scale landslide did not result in any fatalities or casualties, but the physical damage was significant, with the destruction of : a house, a road linking two hamlets, part of the D569 road, as well as water and electricity services.
A state of natural disaster was recognised for the Town Municipality of Digne, declared by Ministerial Order in February 2003. Since then, the landslide has stabilised, the D569 road has been diverted and a road has been built to link the hamlets of Vaumet and Villard.
UNESCO Géoparc de Haute-Provence
Musée Promenade
Parc Saint-Benoît BP 30 156
04990 DIGNE-LES-BAINS
France
L’UNESCO Géoparc de Haute-Provence est un service de Provence Alpes Agglomération,
administré au travers d’une Entente Intercommunale avec la Communauté de Communes du Sisteronais-Buëch
et financé par la région Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur et le Conseil Départemental de Haute-Provence.
