was found in the 17th century. In the Christianized landscape Riez retained its reputation for healing waters into the 19th century . The former cathedral, located on the axis of the baptistery, was constructed on top of a much larger Roman public building from the 1st–2nd century; it was destroyed at the end of the 15th century. Excavations have revealed a 5th-century structure in the field across the road east of the baptistery. The present small cathedral is dedicated to Nôtre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. In the Middle Ages, the new structures of the town were gradually built away from the junction adjacent to the rivers to slightly higher ground because of a rising river. Alluvial silt deposited in the beds of the small rivers—a familiar result of deforestation in the rivers' upper watersheds—had raised the beds of the rivers and extended the floodplain. Deep alluvium still covers much of the Roman site of Reii Appolinares. Sites Today the baptistery contains a small archaeological museum of altars and funerary steles and a collection of Roman inscriptions, which include an inscribed taurobolium altar. There is a cylindrical milestone from the Aurelian Way. In the Hôtel de ville is the Natural History Museum of Provence. See also Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department List of works by Louis Botinelly References Catholic Encyclopedia: "Digne" Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Alebaece Reiorum Apollinarium (Riez) Alpes de Haute-Provence, France" External links Town's website Communes of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia