Église romane Saint Désiré

For a group guided tour: 03 84 24 65 01
For all other enquiries contact the deanery: 03 84 24 04 44

Saint-Désiré church is a jewel of Romanesque art in Franche-Comté and THE jewel of architecture in Lons-le-Saunier (prefecture of the Jura): a splendid Romanesque church built in 1083. Admittedly, the exterior, restored in the 19th century, is disappointing. But the nave, transept and crypt are in the purest 11th-century pre-Romanesque style. And in typical Franc-Comtois Romanesque style: no historical decor, a certain coldness.
In the south transept is a beautiful 15th-century piéta or tombstone, from the former priory of Gigny. Next to it is the large 21-stop Daublaine et Callinet organ built in 1839. The choir houses a flamboyant Gothic eucharistic column. The chapel of the Virgin to the north contains a statue of Sainte-Anne. The crypt, built in 1060 using materials from the original construction (5th century?), houses the empty sarcophagus of Saint-Désiré, the patron saint of Lons (whose relics are kept in the second north chapel of the Cordeliers church). The crypt was restored in 1992.