Oratoire Notre-Dame de la Côte des Jardins
Today, we head for the snowy peaks of the Mont d'Or and discover the village of Rochejean with the Oratory of Notre-Dame de la Côte des Jardins (1860).
To the north-west of the village, at the top of a mound, a large square monument built above a base of two steps. A base made of two layers of stone carries a table which has been repaired by cementing. At the four corners stand pillars mounted on a moulded base and finished with a series of mouldings forming capitals. An entablature rests on these points and supports four triangular pediments that support as many two-sloped roofs with a slight inclination. At the intersection of the ridges rises a pedestal that was carrying a stone cross.
Each of the four openings is reduced by small piers attached to the pillars supporting semicircular arches with interposed imposts. In the centre is a 1.25m high cast iron statue of the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal.
In front of it we can read: 1860.
On the frieze: O MARIA CONCURRENT WITHOUT SIN
PRAY FOR US WHO HAVE RECOURSE TO YOU.
Below, under an iron fret, a mention of an indulgence.
Father Laurent Maire, originally from the Hôpitaux-Neufs, parish priest of Rochejean from 1825 to 1875, asked the commune to erect a monument to Our Lady in memory of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the apparitions of Lourdes. Every year, a torchlight procession was held there on the evening of August 15; on Sundays in May and October, the rosary is recited there when the weather is fine.
In 1961, during the mission to the village, a solemn procession with fireworks took place to celebrate the centenary of the oratory. The monument was restored on this occasion because the stones of the vault were falling apart and the cross had been struck by lightning in May 1956. It was destroyed again in 1980.
Rochejean was often the victim of storms, and the church was burnt down on February 1st 1961.
Sources : Les oratoires du Doubs, P.DIEUDE and Frédéric DELGRANDI for AVPEC Vuillecin
