Hauts LieuxChapels, sanctuaries & legends

Hauts Lieux›All places›Haute-Saône

Hot springHaute-Saône

Sources chaudes de Luxeuil-les-Bains (Luxovium)

Luxeuil-les-Bains

Dimensions
Water up to 63 °C at the source des Boursaux (Parc des Ballons des Vosges)
Period
Early 1st century AD (first thermal establishment); 3rd century (dedication to Lussoius); around 590 (Columban's abbey); 1755–1759 (discoveries); 1857 (Gallo-Roman channels uncovered); 1858 (decree of public interest); 1936 (transfer to the town)
What stands there
The figure of 63 °C (source des Boursaux) comes from a single source, the Parc des Ballons des Vosges, without a date of measurement. The dedication to Labienus found in 1755 (source Labienus) is not described here: its content was not read. It is not known whether the baths seen in the texts of the early Middle Ages were still those of the Romans or an installation linked to the monastery. Dates ‘early 1st century’: estimate by the archaeologists Bully and colleagues (2014).

At the foot of the Vosges, the hot springs of Luxeuil gave rise to a town: Luxovium. Archaeologists see there a healing sanctuary probably of local origin, with a thermal establishment from the early 1st century of our era. Two inscriptions found at the baths in 1777 and 1778 cite a god of the spring, Luxovius or Lussoius; one is lost, the other is kept in the former abbey. In 1865, near the source du Pré-Martin, about a hundred wooden ex-votos were discovered. In the thermal quarter no occupation is attested after the 4th century, except a potter's dump of the 14th. Around 590 Columban founded the abbey; Jonas of Bobbio, in the 640s, speaks of ‘beautiful buildings’ with hot water, and a life of Saint Agilus tells of a monk revived after drowning in the baths. In 1759, excavations in search of a hot spring, north of the Bain des Capucins, brought to light a basin cut in the rock. In 1857, catchment works uncovered two Gallo-Roman galleries dug in the rock, the source du Temple and the Puits Romain. A decree signed by Napoléon III on 26 July 1858 declared the springs of public interest. The source des Boursaux reaches 63 °C.

Inventaire du patrimoine Bourgogne-Franche-Comté — Canaux souterrains de la source du Temple et du Puits Romain (IA70001213) ↗

Further reading

Getting there: The baths quarter is in the town (rue des Thermes). The thermal establishment is paying and restricted to its opening hours, which I did not check; the Gallo-Roman channels are private property according to the Inventaire (2020) and cannot be freely visited. Coordinates: baths building in OpenStreetMap (47.8208 / 6.3771), not a precise emergence. The entry for the abbaye Saint-Colomban (Luxeuil) is about 580 m away.

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

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Sources chaudes de Luxeuil-les-Bains (Luxovium)
Félix Potuit · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

In the same department

All places — Haute-Saône (14).