Balade des Croix (Walk of the Crosses)

Highlighting the small religious heritage of the villages of Thibessart and Rancimont.

The crosses were used in the past for rogations, penitential rites intended to attract God's blessing on the fruits of the earth and on animals. This procession took place on each of the three days preceding the Ascension.

The Chapel of St Donat in Rancimont, a pretty chapel with an openwork bell tower, was built in 1942.

The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Thibessart was built in 1909 thanks to the generosity of the parishioners. Abbot Hubert, returning from a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1908, had the idea of building a grotto at the foot of his church.

If you feel like it, there are two other crosses nearby, not far from the Grotto (A and B). It is said that Cross "B" was built by the owners of the château de Thibessart (the large building on your left) to protect the land from possible construction.

The Cross of the Fused recalls the tragic events of 20 August 1914; here, three randomly chosen inhabitants of Thibessart were executed by the Germans: François Bieuvelet, a forest ranger, his son Joseph, aged 9, and the village carpenter, Nicolas Leboeuf.