Le parc Saint Benoît et ses trésors - Site officiel de l'UNESCO Géoparc de Haute-Provence

Le Parc Saint Benoît vous invite à une promenade où la contemplation se mêle à l’émerveillement : jardin des papillons, jardin japonais, magnifique cascade de tuf, œuvres d’art contemporain… ponctueront votre chemin jusqu’au musée.

The Grande Cascade / The Great Waterfall

It took several hundred years for the mass of tuffa-rock to develop, which forms the "body" of the Grande Cascade/ the Great Waterfall. In order to live in this place, humans managed to tap and avail of the Saint-Benoît natural water-spring and directed the flow of water to a point. Subsequently, the limestone was then deposited, thus accumulating the tuff-rock. Every year, we can see the advancement of the tuff-rock on the road!

The Butterfly Garden

©AgnèsdePinho

Grâce à l’eau de la source Saint-Benoît et à un milieu spécifique, sous un climat à la fois méditerranéen et montagnard, le parc du Musée-Promenade est un haut lieu de biodiversité. Pour créer une oasis adaptée à l’alimentation et à la reproduction des Lépidoptères, les végétaux du jardin des papillons ont été soigneusement sélectionnés. D’avril à novembre, plus d’une centaine d’espèces de papillons indigènes peut être observées en liberté. Venez découvrir ces insectes pollinisateurs utiles à notre écosystème et pourtant menacés.

The Outdoor Art Collection

Each pathway is dotted with works of art created by internationally renowned artists who came at the invitation of CAIRN Art Centre: Andy Goldsworthy, Joan Fontcuberta, Paul-Armand Gette, Catherine Marcogliese, Sylvie Bussières. Most of them were produced during artistic residencies. These installations will offer you an original perspective to discovering the park.

The Kamaishi Japanese Garden

Les Japonais ont fait réaliser un moulage de la célèbre dalle aux ammonites qu’ils ont installé dans la ville de Kamaishi. Ce jardin a été créé en l’honneur du jumelage de cette ville japonaise avec la ville Digne-les-Bains en 1994.
Le jardin de Kamaishi symbolise la traversée de la vie. Pour en saisir tout le sens, il faut l’explorer du bas vers le haut. Le long du parcours, les floraisons sont étalées dans le temps et l’espace, de sorte que chaque saison correspond aux âges de la vie. Lorsqu’on passe le pont, on entre dans le monde des esprits…

The Carins Walking-Trail

Andy Goldsworthy created this trail in 1998. The British artist is one of the leading figures of Land-Art: a movement in which artists use nature and landscapes to create a sometimes ephemeral, impermanent works of art from materials collected in nature.

The Cairns Trail takes its name from the five "water-cairns". From top to bottom, the first one is dry; in the next three, you can hear the water without seeing it, and finally, water gushes openly out of the last cairn and into the natural environment.
The water circulates inside the sculptures, acting as a poetic metaphor for the Saint-Benoît natural water-spring, which is initially underground, invisible and then gushing openingly.

Walking time: Approximately 15 minutes.
Level of Difficulty: Medium, numerous areas with steps.
Incline / Change in Altitude: 60 metres.

The Water Walking-Trail

Following the water's edge and winding along under the trees, this refreshing walking-path offers a variety of atmospheres. It is dotted with artistic installations and invites you to a meditative discovery of the area. It gets you as close as possible to the Grande Cascade / the Great Waterfall.

Walking time: Approximately 25 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium, numerous areas with steps, progressive ascent/descent
Incline / Change in Altitude: 60 metres.

The Ramparts Walking-Trail

This path climbs the ancient, 13th century ramparts. It allows you to observe the traces of tuffa-rock mining and offers a clear view of the mountainous setting of the town of Digne-les-Bains and the Bléone Valley.

You can stop off at the heart of the Grande Cascade/ the Great Waterfall, under which lies a Hydropithecus. The Hydropithecus is a mermaid created by the Catalan artist Joan Fontcuberta.

Walking time: Approximately 5 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium, some steps
Incline / Change in Altitude: 20 metres

The Saint-Benoît 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.

Living Dinosaurs

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 exactly?