Lake of Sainte-Croix

Interesting facts

Georges Clemenceau, then France's prime minister, toured the length of the Verdon on donkeyback in 1908, when damming the river was already being discussed.

Between the world wars the industrial firm Schneider was assigned to build a dam here, but the project never left the drawing board.

The original plan of the 1960s would have drowned Bauduen as well; fears that a karst spring could siphon the lake away helped scale it back.

First water flowed into the reservoir in August 1973, and the final filling was declared on 15 November of the same year.

By surface area it ranks as the fourth-largest reservoir in metropolitan France, behind Der-Chantecoq, Serre-Ponçon and the Lac d'Orient.

The dam is only about 7.5 metres thick at its base and 3 metres at its crest, and it generates around 142 million kWh of electricity a year.

The lake has a single island, the Île de Costebelle, which belongs to the commune of Les Salles-sur-Verdon.

Firefighting Canadair water bombers skim the lake to scoop water when wildfires break out in the surrounding hills of Provence.

Pike, carp, perch and zander live in the reservoir's waters, which reach a maximum depth of about 93 metres.

Why it is worth it

The Lake of Sainte-Croix is what happens when the Verdon, having carved one of Europe's deepest river canyons, spills out into open country. At the Pont du Galetas the limestone walls of the Gorges du Verdon suddenly part and the river widens into a sheet of startlingly milky turquoise water, framed by dry garrigue hills and the villages of Upper Provence. It is not a natural lake: the reservoir was created by a concrete arch dam 94 metres high, built between 1971 and 1974 by Électricité de France, and the valley was flooded in 1973.

With a surface of about 22 square kilometres and some 760 million cubic metres of water, it is among the largest bodies of water in metropolitan France. The filling drowned the old village of Les Salles-sur-Verdon, which was rebuilt on higher ground on the new shore; the neighbouring hill villages of Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon and Bauduen were spared after a 1968 decision to lower the planned water level. Today Bauduen's lanes and houses run right down to the water's edge, and Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon looks over the lake from its ridge, both with the feel of places that have always been lakeside.

The lake's great charm is the meeting of engineered water and wild gorge. From the beaches and rental points around the Galetas bridge, pedal boats and kayaks paddle into the lower canyon between sheer walls, a quiet, cool world after the glare of the open lake. Petrol-powered motorboats are banned, only electric motors and sails are allowed, which keeps the water calm. In summer the shores fill with swimmers; out of season, with lavender fields on the plateau behind and the faience village of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie close by, the colours of water, rock and sky are at their most intense.

Getting there

The lake lies between the departments of Var and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; the nearest large town is Digne-les-Bains, about 37 km away, with the small villages of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and Aiguines close to the Pont du Galetas at its northern end. The nearest airport is Toulon-Hyères Airport (TLN), about 74 km away. A car is by far the most practical way to reach the shore and the gorge.

From the encyclopaedia

The Lake of Sainte-Croix is a reservoir in Southern France that was formed by the construction, between 1971 and 1974, of a reinforced-concrete arch dam, the Sainte-Croix Dam. It marks the departmental border between Var to the southeast and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the northwest.

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Lake of Sainte-Croix

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia