Fontaine et chapelle Sainte-Reine

Alise-Sainte-Reine

At the foot of Mont Auxois flows one of the most frequented healing springs of old France. Tradition holds that it gushed forth on the very spot where Reine (Regina), a young Christian, was beheaded around 252–253 on the orders of the Roman prefect Olibrius for refusing to marry him and to renounce her faith; her relics were transferred to Flavigny in the 9th century, but it was the water that stayed behind that made the fortune of the place. A chapel was built at the end of the 15th century to receive the sick, joined in the 17th century by a church, while the small building that today covers the basin dates from 1931. Two waters were distinguished, one for internal ailments, the other for skin complaints — scabies, ringworm, eczema — which were treated by bathing. The influx of destitute invalids was such that in 1658 two Parisian pilgrims alerted Saint Vincent de Paul, and Louis XIV authorised by letters patent of 23 March 1659 the building of a hospice, under the protection of Anne of Austria, which grew to some forty beds and up to 30,000 hospital-days a year. Control of the spring and its revenues set the inhabitants, the parish clergy, the Franciscan Cordeliers and the bishops of Autun against one another for three centuries, from 1498 to the Revolution. Notably, criticism came early: as far back as the 17th century the physician Jean Barbuot, of Flavigny, published in Latin one of the first chemical analyses of the water, helping to cast doubt on its supernatural virtues; the chapel and fountain ensemble has been registered as a monument historique since 18 April 2012.

La source miraculeuse — commune d'Alise-Sainte-Reine ↗

Getting there : Alise-Sainte-Reine is reached from Venarey-les-Laumes (railway station) or from the A6, Bierre-lès-Semur exit. The chapel-and-fountain ensemble lies at the bottom of the village, around 15 rue de l'Hôpital, below the former Sainte-Reine hospital; access to the fountain is free, the chapel opens according to the season. Coordinates approximate to within about 150 m: find your way by the rue de l'Hôpital rather than by the GPS point. The mystery play of Sainte Reine is performed some summers at the théâtre des Roches, above the village.

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

Ambient sound