You may not know it yet, but there are dinosaurs still alive today in Digne-les-Bains and in many other parts of the world. We see them almost every day and pay no attention to them. Who are they?
The Grande Cascade Waterfall (The Great Waterfall)
It took several hundred years for the mass of tuff-rock (link to internal page of the site) that forms the "body" of the Great Waterfall to develop. In order to live in this place, humans tapped the Saint-Benoît natural spring-water source (link to internal page of the site) and directed the flow of water to a fixed point: the limestone was then deposited, thus accumulating the tuff-rock. And every year, it is necessary to check the encroachment of the tuff-rock on the road!
The Saint-Benoît Natural Water-Spring
The wooded park of the Promenade Museum is criss-crossed by streams and waterfalls from the Saint-Benoît natural water-spring. This natural water-spring flows continuously in summer and winter. It releases an average of thirteen litres of water per second, i.e. over 400 million litres of water per year. Its temperature, which fluctuates between 11°C and 13°C, provides a much appreciated coolness in summer. The quality of the spring's natural water combined with regular Health & Safety monitoring enables it to supply drinking water to the Promenade Museum.
The spring's water supplies an area covering serveral square kilometres to the northwest of the Promenade Museum's estate. The water emerges through a crack, deep from the earth.
The CAIRN Art Centre
The CAIRN Art Centre is a creative centre linking us to the specificities of the territory. An extension of the contemporary art collections of the Gassendi Museum, its exhibition space offers works produced by artists in residence at the Promenade Museum.
Every year from April to November, there are three consecutive exhibitions. Information & Latest News at the CAIRN Art Centre: Link to the CAIRN Art Centrewebsite
The Gassendi Museum
The Gassendi Museum presents encyclopaedic collections in the field of art, local history, physics and natural sciences.
The visit proposes an invitation through time where the incredible encounters between science, contemporary art and traditional painting take place.
Opening out into its surrounding areas, the Gassendi Museum is also developing a collection of open-air, land-artwork installations, inviting contemporary artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Joan Fontcuberta, Herman de Vries and Mark Dion to create artwork installation in open-nature. This unique project (including 160 works and approximately thirty artists) proposes to combine the pleasure of walking with the discovery of the local natural and cultural heritage through art-appreciation walking-trails such as Andy Goldsworthy's Refuge d'Art Project (Land-Art installations doubling as havens, sancturies of peace and contemplation in wild, natural surroundings), and similarly the art-installations of Herman de Vries or the Contemporary Art Route.
64 bd. Gassendi - 04000 Digne-les-Bains
+33 - (0)4 92 31 45 29
Prices :
Adults : €6
Free Admission for children under 12 and students.
Free Admission on the 1st Sunday of each month and for national events (e.g. Museum Night)
Museum-Pass discounted rate: €4
Opening Dates/Times :
From May 15th to September 30th from 11am to 7pm.
Closed on Tuesdays.
From October 1st to May 14th
Closed on Tuesdays.
9am - 12pm and 1:30pm - 5:30pm on weekdays, 1:30pm - 5:30pm at weekends.
Closed between Christmas and New Year.
Adresse
UNESCO Géoparc de Haute-Provence
Musée Promenade
Parc Saint-Benoît BP 30 156
04990 DIGNE-LES-BAINS
France
Téléphone
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.
