Built at an altitude of 735 metres, Gap is the highest chief département town (préfecture) in France. Its historic centre is the perfect place for a wander, particularly the charming square Place Jean Marcellin and its very lively pedestrian streets. Other places of interest in the old town include the beautiful 18th-century facade of the town hall with its wrought-iron balconies, and Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Arnoux cathedral, a 19th-century Neo-Gothic building with a 70-metre high bell tower porch and a fantastic organ inside.
No to be missed: the Gap departmental museum devoted to archaeology and the history of art, where visitors can admire exhibits like the white and black marble mausoleum of the Duke of Lesdiguières.
A few kilometres from the town centre is the Domaine de Charance estate, the former summer residence of the bishops of Gap and today home to the National Alpine Botanical Conservatory and the Écrins National Park Visitor Centre. As well as these two places dedicated to nature preservation, the estate possesses a formal and a landscaped garden, as well as a 220-hectare park with a lake.
As for events, the town of Gap hosts the International Folk Dance Festival every July.
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