Around Longchaumois

Likely built during the 16th century, the gothic-style Longchaumois church was competed or made bigger during the 17th century as attested to by the date engraved on the stone above the entrance gate (1631). The church underwent several other changes at the end of the 19th century, including the upgrading of the facades and the opening of bays. The church’s uniqueness is provided by the sleek polygonal arrow topped with four bell turrets as well as by its wooden polychrome sculptures, some of which are classed as historical monuments and which date back to the 16th century. (PNRHJ - Collection patrimoine, “Heritage collection”)

Longchaumois is one of the villages considered the most representative of the High Jura in terms of traditional typology: a village centre with attached houses joined at the gable that stretch along the main road, and a scattering of several small hamlets and isolated houses across the municipal land. From the front of the church, which dates back to the 16th century, you can see how the vegetable gardens are organised behind the houses.

"T'es la cuison" or "t'es souci" or "t'es inquiet" are phrases in Patois, a French local dialect. They are said to be how Claude Prost came to get his war nickname Capitaine Lacuzon. Born in Sous le Daim in Longchaumois around 1607, Lacuzon is a historical figure of the Franche-Comté’s resistance to its attachment to France, which occurred under Louis XIV in 1674. A hero in Xavier de Montepin’s novel “Le Médecin des Pauvres”, Capitaine Lacuzon is still a controversial character to many historians. To find out more, visit: www.mes-annees-50.fr/capitaine_lacuson.htm.

A unique innovation in the High Jura, the Longchaumois Bike Park has become unmissable for mountain bikers looking for some adrenaline. Thought up and planned by François Billy-Maître, an experienced cyclist from the village, this site is mainly based on the notions of pleasure and sharing. The park includes an initiation area comprised of banked corners, bridges, walkways and jumps as well as a practice area with over 6 km of descents accessible to cyclists of all levels. Speed and thrills are guaranteed in this privileged natural area.

Born from the ingenuity of master carpenters in a frontier land with a dark past and a difficult climate, the “grenier fort” - here in the “Longchaumois” style - is a testament to the wood civilisation having marked the Jura mountain up until the 18th century. Cereals, food, clothes, precious objects, tools and writings were stored away from the fires that could ravage homes and far from rodents and jealous eyes. In Rosset, this grenier fort was turned into a “book box” which is always open.

Bordered by two low stone walls, the “vy” or vie” is the path or route used to guide livestock from the farm to the pasture. A mark left on the landscape by the past, “vies” and their low walls are home to a well-adjusted biodiversity. Its cracks contain real microhabitats and are beneficial to species such as the common wall lizard and the goldmoss stonecrop, a succulent plant with leaves full of reserves.

The traditional High Jura farm housed hay, wood provisions, animals and people, all under the same roof, with the latter benefitting from the heat provided by the former. Insulation was provided by the hay stored away for the winter, with the principle of the high barn. However, water supply problems were more difficult due to the karstic nature of the widely cracked underground, and water sources were often lacking. Works were therefore launched, starting with the cistern. They continued with the assembly of the “column” framework which would make up the house’s skeleton. The roof was then built with wooden shingles (small spruce tiles). The gutters on the roof served to collect water to fill the cistern. Lastly, fat lime mortar could then be made to build up the walls.