• Museums


The Valley has five museums, each one focused on a particular aspect of Ubayen life such as hunting or geology.

There is also the recently opened 'Maison du bois' which combines games, interactive exhibitions on the wood industry and a children's playground, with demonstrations and walks.

The five museums :

Musée de Barcelonnette : Gens de l'Ubaye, gens des voyages

Barcelonnette Museum

Ubaye people, travelling people...

In a 19th century villa, the only villa “Mexican” that you can visit, discover the collections of the Museum of the Valley open to the world and other cultures: folk art from Mexico, China, Burma, etc. Oriental-style paintings of Jean and Marie Caire (Algeria, Tunisia), the curiosity cabinet of migranttraveller Emile Chabrand, not to mention the adventure beyond the ocean of Barcelonnettes in Mexico (1805-1950) told by a descendant.

For archaeology enthusiasts, the museum houses the famous Ollivier collection of bronzes (Gleize donation).

Musée du Lauzet - Ubaye : Un monde de cueillette et de chasse

Lauzet-Ubaye Museum

Mountains and men

In the old grocery store located on the village square, near the fountain, is installed Lauzet Ubaye museum. The shop, but also the back rooms with the dining room, kitchen and upstairs, display the world of gathering and hunting, these ancient practices which provided food and medicine for the people, have these days become leisure activities.

Jausiers Museum

Memories of the earth

Geology, archaeology, irrigation, floods… The Museum in Jausiers, housed in the former annex of the Dunand hotel, evokes the water and the Earth. Alive, destructive or tamed, water drew a landscape that man has learned to maintain and shape in turn. In contact with water, the Earth has produced his finest works and sculptures, including the rock formations “les demoiselles coiffées”. The earth also buried treasures for centuries; through archaeological excavations, humans have brought them to light, revealing the ancient origins of the valley.

Meyronnes : Un sous-marin dans la montagne

Saint-Ours Bas (Meyronnes - Val d'Oronaye)

A valley and its military

Melted into the landscape, the museum is invisible from the road that winds through the valley; Yet three shooting bells attract attention… This Maginot structure, converted into a museum, once protected a border, now defunct. Its reinforced door opens onto a maze of corridors and rooms built underground: barracks, headquarters, caponier… this world invisible from the outside world is exciting and full of history.

Musée de Saint Paul : Outils, gestes, travaux…

Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye Museum

Tools, gestures and work

In the house of the family Arnaud, an old high mountain farm where men and animals cohabited, the old barn smells like hay and old tools. Through these, the story is told of the seasons and the many activities that characterized the life of the people: working the land, harvesting, weaving wool and hemp, housework, preparing cheese and jams. It leaves people questioning, through the rich collection of artefacts, how much the agricultural world has changed in the 20th century…

How to get there

Afficher Cartes des musées de la Vallée de l'Ubaye sur une carte plus grande


Service Culture et Patrimoine

Communauté de communes Vallée de l'Ubaye
4, avenue des 3 Frères Arnaud - 04400 Barcelonnette
T. +33 (0)4 92 81 00 22 / museedelavallee@ubaye.com