Eglise de Saint-Laurent-la-Roche

The church of St Laurent-la-Roche occupies a very special vantage point on the first foothills of the Jura, in a rocky arch with the Bresse plains in the background.

Mentioned as a chapel in 901, it was home to the monks of Augisey, who had been driven out by the invasions. It then became a dependency of the Abbey of Gigny and finally a parish comprising the villages of Essia, Géruge, Arthenas, Augisey and a few scattered barns.

In the 1960s, a mural depicting the Adoration of the Magi was discovered, dating from the early 16th century. Research has led to the conclusion that one of the Magi is depicted as Philibert de Chalon, Prince of Orange, leader of Charles V's armies in Italy and lord of the castle.

You can't separate this building from the Madonna who watches over the village of St Laurent-la-Roche from the top of her rock, facing a breathtaking viewpoint, a well-known belvedere in the region. This was once the site of a powerful fortified castle, dismantled by order of Louis XIV in 1668. The view stretches far out over the valley and the plain on one side, and over the houses of the village on the other, lined up along streets whose layout sometimes hints at the past.

The history of the church has been marked by some very special destinies, which the volunteers who give tours of the church will be able to tell you about:
- Philibert de Chalon, Prince of Orange and leader of Emperor Charles V's armies, who died at the age of 28 in 1530,
- Huguette de Sainte-Croix, accused of having her husband Etienne de Saint-Dizier, Lord of Saint-Laurent-la-Roche, murdered in 1328,
- Charlotte de la Favée, who died in childbirth, loved and mourned by her husband Renobert de Mont Saint-Ligier in 1608,
- ... and many other anecdotes to explain the statuary, paintings and murals.

The village is on the GR 59 footpath and on a stage of the Via Cluny hiking route.