Ganagobie

Towns and Villages - by Provence Beyond

Villages > Ganagobie

Nearby:  | Aix-en-Provence 83 km | Cereste 45 km | Digne-les-Bains 32 km | Forcalquier 23 km | Greoux-les-Bains 41 km | Lurs 11 km | Manosque 23 km | Quinson 63 km | Reillanne 40 km | Riez 46 km | Sisteron 27 km | Valensole 33 km |

Below: | Prieure de Ganagobie | Roman Road, Roman Bridge | History | O.T. | Transportation | Sports | Hiking | Lodging Hotels |

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.

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).

Prieuré de Ganagobie

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

The prieuré (monastery) was founded in the 10th century, owned first by the Bishops of Sisteron, and donated it to the Abbey of Cluny in 956. In the 12th century, the Benedictines built the church and the Romanesque cloistures. Up to the 14th century, a small group of about a dozen monks still worked the land and the nearby forest. The monastery was considered important until the 15th century, and the monks of Lérins (see Iles de Lérins) brought their relics here for safety from coastal raiders.

The monastery was taken by force in 1491 by the 5th Abbey of Cluny. It had a rocky road from then on, being assulted by various groups and changing owners frequently especially during the French Revolution. The domaine was given to the Benedictine monks of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine of Marseille at the end of the 19th century.

Carefully restored, the main doorway (portail) of the monastery's Notre-Dame church is the finely carved original, in the Provencal-Romanesque style. The church houses some fine religious items dating back to the 12th century, but also some locally-discovered archeologique artifacts, and the lid of a Carolingien sarcophage (see History, VIII AD).

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

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.

Mairie

Tel: 0492 68 03 21; Fax: 0492 68 13 24

Transportation

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

Sports

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

Swimming Pool (piscine)

Tennis

Hiking

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.

Lodging - Hotels