Discover a garden from Vauban's time

This historical garden displays food and medicinal plants used since Vauban, wild or grown, most of them local, some imported.

Find out how living héritage was used, and the legends it inspired.

The purpose of this garden is to illustrate a mountain fortress' food supplies since the 18th century. Mont-Dauphin's municipality created  it in 2012 in connection with the fortress' inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List together with 11 other Vauban Fortifications.

A botanical, and cultural project, this site is also used for environmental education and a pioneering experiment in biodiversity protection.

Verbena officinalis

"Local plant used against many diseases since at least the Celtic era". Discover its many purposes in our garden

The historical garden is also an ethnobotanical exhibition

A historical garden as cultural project ?

Inscription on the  World Heritage list commits the administrator to permanently preserve and enhance the site. Therefore a management plan was created with a cultural project as its centrepiece. The municipality of Mont-Dauphin chose to study « A mountain fortress’ food supplies ». The project was launched in 2011 by creating a historical and cultural garden to collect and develop ancient species of local food and medicinal plants since Vauban’s time. In depth   ethnobotanical research by the Jardins du Monde Montagnes association in 2014 defined the content. The gardener tells visitors about this authentic living heritage, using local legends and customs.