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Hot springHautes-Alpes

Sources chaudes du Monêtier-les-Bains (Stabatio)

Le Monêtier-les-Bains

Dimensions
Water at 42 °C at the source according to the Grands Bains (44 °C according to ProvenceWeb; two springs of 34 and 38 °C according to Wikipedia EN)
Period
Early Empire (Roman occupation excavated in 2020); 9th century (monastery, according to ProvenceWeb); 1715 (Rotonde, according to ProvenceWeb); 1786 (project of Louis XVI, according to the Grands Bains); 1889 (name Monêtier-les-Bains); 1999 (Petits Bains); 2008 (Grands Bains)
What stands there
Temperature: 42 °C (Grands Bains website, which says ‘jaillit à 42 °C à la source’), about 44 °C (ProvenceWeb), two springs of 34 and 38 °C (Wikipedia EN): not settled. Opening: Petits Bains in 1999 and Grands Bains in 2008 (Grands Bains website; ProvenceWeb says 2008); Wikipedia EN writes 1999 for the Grands Bains, which seems to confuse the two. Stabatio: the excavation report of 2022 (HAL, team of Christophe Marconnet) writes that the station of Stabatio of the Peutinger Table, 8 miles (nearly 12 km) from Briançon on the road to Grenoble by the Lautaret, ‘would be located’ at Le Monêtier (Savatio in the Anonymous of Ravenna), that the presence of the springs reinforced this idea, and that the absence of ancient remains had made some authors cautious. The excavation of June 2020 at the Clos des Pélenches uncovered a small travertine quarry and four buildings of the Early Empire (first Roman remains of the village); the supposed settlement would be further west, towards the present centre and the springs. No ancient bath was found. The ‘4th century’ of the Grands Bains website, the meaning ‘place favourable to healing’ of Stabatio and the name Aquisana are supported by no ancient source that I could read: removed. The ancient texts themselves (Peutinger, Anonymous of Ravenna) were not read directly. Monks of the Novalesa (9th c.), Rotonde of 1715 and name of 1889: ProvenceWeb alone. Louis XVI in 1786: Grands Bains website alone.

In the upper valley of the Guisane, near Briançon, hot water comes out of the ground at 42 °C according to the Grands Bains website. On the road from Briançon to Grenoble by the Lautaret, the Peutinger Table places the station of Stabatio 8 miles from Briançon; it is located at Le Monêtier, but with caution, for lack of remains before 2018. An excavation of 2020, at the Clos des Pélenches, revealed the first Roman remains of the village: a small travertine quarry and four buildings of the Early Empire, on the edge of a settlement supposed to be closer to the springs. No ancient bath was found. In the 9th century, according to ProvenceWeb, monks of the abbey of the Novalesa founded a religious establishment there that gave its name to the commune. In 1715, again according to ProvenceWeb, a Rotonde was built near the spring for drinkers, which makes Le Monêtier one of the oldest resorts in the Alps. According to the Grands Bains website, Louis XVI decided in 1786 to build a spa there. In 1889 the village took the name Monêtier-les-Bains to relaunch its resort. A first establishment, Les Petits Bains, opened in 1999 (80 m² of pool), then the Grands Bains in 2008 over 4,500 m².

Les Grands Bains du Monêtier — page « Univers » (histoire et eau) ↗

Further reading

Getting there: The Grands Bains (route des Bains) are a paying establishment and no free emergence is indicated in the sources read; prices and opening hours were not verified. Coordinates: ‘Les Grands Bains’ in OpenStreetMap (establishment, confirmed on 22 October 2026), not the spring itself.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Hautes-Alpes (16).