The Promenade Museum
The Musée Promenade is the headquarters of the Haute-Provence UNESCO World Geopark. It is also a space for interpretation, showcasing the territory and its various heritages.
Visitors stroll through a large, shady park where paths and streams intersect, and where waterfalls and contemporary works of art provide an enchanting backdrop.
Exhibition rooms immerse visitors in the region’s exceptional landscapes and rich heritage.
The showrooms
In the museum’s exhibition rooms,the last 300 million years of Earth’s history flash before your eyes… In ancient times, the Alpine ocean covered the region. Stone fossils such as Ammonites and Ichthyosaurus illustrate this memory. A film recounts the history of the region’s landscapes and their evolution, and the major upheavals the Earth has undergone. The film helps visitors to appreciate the extraordinary richness of the region.
The park and its trails
The combination of Mediterranean and Alpine climates favors remarkable biodiversity. In a garden specially designed to host the favorite – or exclusive – plants of butterflies and their caterpillars, more than 139 species of butterfly move freely and can be observed from spring to autumn. A guided tour is offered at 10:30 a.m. (Monday to Friday in July and August, and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from September to November) by an enthusiastic mediator (included in the price of the entrance ticket).
The trails are dotted with works of contemporary art. Internationally-renowned artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, Joan Fontcuberta, Sylvie Bussières and Agathe Larpent have drawn inspiration from these works.
The Japanese-inspired Kamaïshi garden was designed around the theme of “Man and his seasons”. The different stages of a man’s life are effectively represented as the flowers bloom along the path. A Japanese-style gate (Torii) marks each entrance and invites visitors to enter the garden. A bridge, a pond, paths or benches, sophisticated vegetation, lanterns and pagodas live in harmony in this timeless space.
