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Hot springAlpes-de-Haute-Provence

Sources chaudes du vallon des Eaux Chaudes de Digne-les-Bains (Dinia)

Digne-les-Bains

Dimensions
Natural springs of 22 to 42 °C; present water from the Ophélia borehole: 50 °C
Period
1st century (Roman baths according to the tourist office); 2nd century (house with peristyle); 17th century (reputation of the waters); 1905 (purchase by the town); 1930s (new establishment); 1982 (present establishment); 1988 (name Digne-les-Bains)
What stands there
Temperatures: natural springs 22 to 42 °C (tourist office); Ophélia borehole of 870 m at 50 °C (press kit of the baths). The press kit dates the old establishment to the 17th century; the tourist-office document says only that the springs were frequented in the Middle Ages, without detail. The same kit presents Gassendi as ‘governor of Provence’ in 1643, which is doubtful: I write only the 17th-century praise reported by the tourist office. The meaning ‘hot water’ of the name Dinia, put forward by this kit, is not verified. Date of the new establishment: 1931 or ‘1930s’.

East of Digne, in the vallon des Eaux Chaudes, springs emerge ‘naturally at the foot of the cliff’ between 22 and 42 °C, according to the tourist office. The water used today comes from the Ophélia borehole, 870 m deep, at 50 °C. The tourist office writes that from the 1st century the Romans set up baths in the valley, in the town they called Dinia. In 1991 a rescue excavation under the former casino found a Gallo-Roman house with a peristyle, a sort of residential inn that was operating in the 2nd century; archaeologists think that the first baths of Dinia lay very close by. The springs remained frequented in the Middle Ages. In the 17th century Pierre Gassendi and Madame de Sévigné praised the effectiveness of the water, and wounded soldiers came to treat their wounds. In 1905 the commune bought the establishment; in the 1930s the 17th-century building was replaced by a new establishment with a thermal hotel. The present establishment opened in 1982, with an extension of pools; in 1988 the town took the official name Digne-les-Bains and took back management in 2009.

Office de tourisme de Digne-les-Bains — Dossier de presse des thermes 2023 (PDF) ↗

Further reading

Getting there: The baths (avenue des Thermes) are a paying establishment, the Spa Thermal de Haute-Provence having opened in March 2022 according to the press kit; a major renovation is announced for 2027. No free bathing is mentioned. The natural emergences are at the foot of the cliff, in the valley, next to the establishment; their access is not verified. Coordinates: ‘Établissement thermal’ in OpenStreetMap.

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

Sources chaudes du vallon des Eaux Chaudes de Digne-les-Bains (Dinia)
JYB Devot · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (20).