Ermitage de Franchard

Fontainebleau

In the heart of the wildest gorges of the forest of Fontainebleau, hermits sought solitude from the 11th century onwards. The retreat was a harsh one: towards the end of the 12th century, two solitaries were murdered by brigands. A canon named Guillaume nevertheless settled in this wilderness around 1194 and turned it into a small monastery; in 1197 Philip Augustus confirmed possession of the place to the abbey of Saint-Euverte in Orléans, and the hermitage became the priory of Notre-Dame de Franchard in 1209. Destroyed during the Hundred Years' War in 1354, rebuilt, and entrusted by Louis XIV to the Mathurins (Trinitarians) in 1676, the site kept its dangerous reputation: thefts and murders followed one another until a final killing in 1712, after which the Council of the Regency had the buildings razed. What remained were the fountain and the pilgrimage: every Whit Tuesday, a mass drew a considerable crowd from all over the Gâtinais. The reddish water of the Fontaine des Ermites, praised as early as 1630 by a doctor from Melun for "strengthening the eyesight", was believed to cure eye complaints: mothers would dip their children's faces in it. The country fair outlived the hermitage into the 19th century, when the painters and first tourists of Fontainebleau took over from the pilgrims. A section of the chapel wall and the hermits' well can still be seen at the start of the famous path through the Franchard gorges.

Getting there : Franchard-Ermitage car park, route de l'Ermitage (access from the D301/route Ronde, Fontainebleau). Remains of the chapel near the ecotourism centre; the Franchard gorges via Denecourt path no. 7.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound