Église Saint-Dizier et la Pierre des Fous

Saint-Dizier-l'Évêque

The village bears the name of a bishop of Langres, Desiderius or Dizier, whom tradition brings here to combat Arianism and celebrate mass in an oratory dedicated to Saint Martin. The local account has it that he was murdered, together with his deacon Reinfroid, by thieves coveting the liturgical vessels, near the present village of Croix, and that before dying he healed his servant Willibert, who had been wounded in the head — this is the miracle said to have founded the pilgrimage. His tomb, a sarcophagus with a carefully carved lid whose ornament recalls Merovingian goldsmiths' work, has remained in the church, consecrated in 1041 and rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 16th century. It is known as the Pierre des Fous, the Madmen's Stone: for centuries the mentally ill, migraine sufferers and those with head injuries were brought here for a novena combining a strict diet, prayers, exorcisms, daily communion and above all crawling on all fours beneath the sarcophagus, through a very low opening. The treatment was completed by bathing in the stone basins of a spring in the little valley, where pilgrims washed their heads in carved niches. The practice died out around 1850, after a local doctor opposed it in the name of the fight against superstition. A few kilometres away, towards Villers-le-Sec, a block of stone bears prints that tradition attributes sometimes to the feet of Saint Dizier, sometimes to the steps of the Devil — the memory of the saint has left its mark on the whole south of the Territoire.

Histoire religieuse — mairie de Saint-Dizier-l'Évêque ↗

Getting there : In the centre of the village of Saint-Dizier-l'Évêque, in the south of the Territoire de Belfort, between Delle and the Swiss border, on a route of the Way of St James. Coordinates given at the level of the commune; the church is in the heart of the village and the tomb is inside. Enquire at the mairie (town hall) for access to the building.

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

Ambient sound