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  Villages /  Ganagobie

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Ganagobie

• Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04310)   • Population: 94  • Altitude: 377 m


 Ganagobie photo ganagobie-aerial001b.jpg

The village of Ganagobie is small and peaceful, a charming combination off the fast track of Beyond. About a third of the 94 inhabitants of this tiny village are monks who live at the Monastery (Prieuré de Ganagobie). The village sits on the 700-m high, forested Plateau of Ganagobie overlooking the wide Durance valley flowing through Beyond.

The village of Ganagobie is small and peaceful, a charming combination off the fast track of Beyond. About a third of the 94 inhabitants of this tiny village are monks who live at the Monastery (Prieuré de Ganagobie). The village sits on the 700-m high, forested Plateau of Ganagobie overlooking the wide Durance valley flowing through Beyond.

Ganagobie is actually better known for its Monastery and nearby Roman bridge than for the village.

Commerce.

There's no commerce in Ganagobie village, not surprising considering its size, but nearby Forcalquier has one of the best markets in Provence, and the town of Manosque is only 23 km to the south. There are local, natural products available at the Monastery.

Ganagobie village does have some Beyond-typical artisans, including a Painting School, a sculptor, an aquarium factory, a wood-worker (menuisier and a stained-glass group (association de vitraux).

Roman Road, Roman Bridge

The Roman Via Domitia crossed the Alpes from Italy and passed Embrun and Gap, crossing Provence down the Durance beside Lurs, to Cereste, Cavaillon, Nimes and Narbonne.

The Roman bridge of Ganagobie [photo-2] is on the small road that goes north from the village down the side of the hill, just before it joins the D30 and the main N96 highway. Two thousand years later, this single-arch bridge is still in use as a road crossing over the Buès river.

At the first road junction just past the bridge, you can follow the little D30 up the hill to the Monastery of Ganagobie [photo-1]. There's a nice walk from the parking area to the monastery grounds, past a borie.

History of Ganagobie

Ganagobie has been occupied continuosly through the ages, from prehistoric, through Roman occupation, the Middle Ages to the current. The rocky edge of the plateau with its nooks and caves housed prehistoric man and 20th-century Maquisards during the Resistance against the Germans.

Gallo-Roman: A Gallo-Roman oppidum was located at Villevieille. The Allée de Forcalquier was a site of various Roman stone quarrying, including a carrières de meules (for making millstones). The 2nd-century Roman bridge over the Buès is still in use today, and the Roman road "Via Domitia" passed nearby at the important junction of Alaunium.

Medieval: On the site of the Gallo-Roman oppidum of Villevieille are the remains of a watch tower and houses from the Middle Ages.

Hiking

• GPS: 44.009369, 5.916547

A two-hour petite randonée (PR) hike, easy enough for the whole family, departs and ends at the parking lot in front of the mairie, clearly marked by the standard yellow marks.

Sports

Not too small to have some sporting activities, including a Salle de Sport.

Swimming Pool (piscine)

Tennis

Transportation Ganagobie

The village is 5 km from the A51 autoroute, that connects Aix-en-Provence with Sisteron and (almost) Gap.

Department 04, Alpes-de-Haute Provence Buses

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