Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire

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Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire
Commune
Church of Saint-Pierre
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire
Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire Show map of France Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire Show map of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Coordinates: 43°54′38″N 5°43′00″E / 43.9106°N 5.7167°E / 43.9106; 5.7167
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Arrondissement	Forcalquier
Canton	Reillanne
Intercommunality	Haute-Provence-Pays de Banon
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Paul Grosso[1]
Area 1	27.78 km2 (10.73 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	1,226
• Density	44/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	04192 /04870
Elevation	386–767 m (1,266–2,516 ft) (avg. 543 m or 1,781 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ miʃɛl lɔpsɛʁvatwaʁ]; Occitan: Sant Miquèu de l'Observatòri) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It was the death place of 18th-century botanist Jean-Paul de Rome d'Ardène and Taos Amrouche, the French-speaking Algerian writer, singer of Kabyle music, and activist for women's causes.

Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire is the "host town" of the Haute-Provence Observatory, a nationally ranked facility. It is considered, by many astronomers, to be the best European low-altitude (400 meters) observatory in operation. There is also an astronomy center for educational purposes. It hosts students of elementary schools for brief stays (1–2 weeks) during the year and organizes theme nights of combined sky observations and expositions/debates on different themes.

St. Michael was chosen as the location of the Haute-Provence Observatory site, about 600 meters north. The village is located 543m altitude. The rock Guerin rises to 767 meters in the municipality.

The neighboring towns of Saint-Michel-Observatoire are Revest des Brousses, Mane, Dauphin, Saint-Martin-les-Eaux, Villemus, Reillane and Aubenas-les-Alpes.

The village is located in the Regional Natural Park of Luberon. The town is one of the seventy-seven Member States of the Regional Natural Park of the Luberon Park, which extends from Cavaillon in the west to the east Durance, two departments and eighty-five towns and 185,145 hectares. To the south, it overlooks the Luberon Durance basin and the county of Aigues.

The town has two main villages, Saint-Michel and Lincel and several hamlets including the Craux, and quite a few differences.

The commune is twinned with:

• Monte Porzio Catone, Italy

• Luberon
• Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department
• Video about Saint-Michel Observatory, available on Paris Observatory digital library

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