Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire
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Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire (; ) is a commune in the
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...
department in southeastern France. It was the death place of 18th-century botanist
Jean-Paul de Rome d'Ardène Father Jean-Paul de Rome d'Ardène (25 January 1690 – 5 December 1769) in ''domaine d'Ardène'' in Saint-Michel (modern Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) was an 18th-century French botanist. Origins Jean-Paul de Rome d'Ar ...
and
Taos Amrouche Marie-Louise-Taos Amrouche (March 1913 – 2 April 1976) was an Algerian writer and singer. In 1947, she became the first Algerian woman to publish a novel. Biography She was born in Tunis, Tunisia, into a family of Kabyle people, Kabyle ...
, the French-speaking Algerian writer, singer of Kabyle music, and activist for women's causes.


Population


Observatory

Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire is the "host town" of the
Haute-Provence Observatory The Haute-Provence Observatory (OHP, ) is an astronomical observatory in the southeast of France, about 90 km east of Avignon and 100 km north of Marseille. It was established in 1937 as a national facility for French astronomers. Ast ...
, a nationally ranked facility. It is considered, by many astronomers, to be the best European low-altitude (400 meters) observatory in operation. There is also an astronomy center for educational purposes. It hosts students of elementary schools for brief stays (1–2 weeks) during the year and organizes theme nights of combined sky observations and expositions/debates on different themes. St. Michael was chosen as the location of the Haute-Provence Observatory site, about 600 meters north. The village is located 543m altitude. The rock Guerin rises to 767 meters in the municipality. The neighboring towns of Saint-Michel-Observatoire are Revest des Brousses, Mane, Dauphin, Saint-Martin-les-Eaux, Villemus, Reillane and Aubenas-les-Alpes.


The territory of the Regional Natural Park of Luberon

The village is located in the Regional Natural Park of
Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mounta ...
. The town is one of the seventy-seven Member States of the Regional Natural Park of the Luberon Park, which extends from
Cavaillon Cavaillon (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.
in the west to the east
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Lincel and several hamlets including the Craux, and quite a few differences.


International relations

The commune is twinned with: *
Monte Porzio Catone Monte Porzio Catone is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italy, central Italian region of Lazio, Latium, located about southeast of Rome, on the Alban Hills. Monte Porzio Catone borders the following municipalities: Frasca ...
, Italy


See also

*
Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mounta ...
*
Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Video about Saint-Michel Observatory
available on
Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...
digital library


References

Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{AlpesHauteProvence-geo-stub