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Park of Schappe, history

Briançon
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Descriptif détaillé

First of all, the two slopes on the banks of the Durance had to be developed into terraces, which had previously been former quarries. An original and ingenious process was used to transport the earth to fill these terraces: it was poured into the large city canal and the Reymondières canal by dozens of soldiers. The creation of the lake was made possible by the abundance of water. Spanned by a Japanese bridge, it is 2 metres deep in its centre and the bottom is covered with a paving of round stones. Commander Delphin organised the planting of trees of various species from France, Northern Italy, Austria and Switzerland. Paths were laid out and a large orchard was created on the right bank of the Durance at the foot of the city walls. In 1830, the park received a gold medal from the Royal and Central Agricultural Society. At the back of the acqueduct that used to carry water to the silk processing factory, there are large masonry cavities that were used to store cabbages during the winter; well protected, they could be kept throughout the cold season and fed the factory canteens. Until the 1930s, ice cream was also stored at La Schappe in large vaulted rooms. During the hot season, it was collected from the Casset glacier and then brought down to Briançon on trucks. The park was bought from the Société SIS, owner of the factory, on 27 December 1954 by the town of Briançon. In 1965, Jean Heusch created a zoological park: ducks, swans, buzzards, peacocks, turtle doves, foxes, rare birds of prey, but also squirrels in freedom. In the 1960s, the lake was used as a municipal skating rink in winter (until the present skating rink was created in 1968). The bottom of the park was used for many years as a municipal camping site. Before the creation of the Artaillauds and Sagnes sports fields in 1965, secondary school students used to go down to the park for physical education sessions.

    Code postal
    05100
    Commune
    Briançon
      Géolocalisation