Recologne: Buildings, Fountains and Forest

Recologne brings together protected buildings, sacred art, a historic memorial site, a forest walk and two fountain complexes described in different ways. Its historical references range from the château’s reconstruction around 1640 to the church’s bas-reliefs around 1740. Architecture, furnishings, local history and woodland landscapes offer different perspectives on the town.

Church and Château: Protection and Building History

The Église Saint-Barthélémy has been listed as a Monument historique since 7 August 1987. Protection of the Château de Recologne is partial, however: the decree of 2 May 1979 covers the main building’s façades and roofs, a ground-floor drawing room, and a first-floor chapel together with its furnishings. The château’s protection listing therefore specifies particular building elements and rooms, rather than covering the entire building as a whole.

The Château de Recologne was rebuilt around 1640 as a 40-metre-long rectangle with four corner pavilions. Its length and basic shape convey the scale of the building, while the four pavilions mark the corners of the rectangular layout. Inside the Église Saint-Barthélémy, the focus is on the furnishings: it contains seven bas-reliefs made by the Marca family around 1740. Thus, alongside the château’s architecture, there are specific works of sacred art with their own historical dating.

The Cimetière des pestiférés and the Bois des Fouchères

Maintained by the municipality of Recologne, the Cimetière des pestiférés commemorates the plague epidemic of 1632 as well as an event from the Guerre de 10 ans in 1637. The memorial site is located in the Bois des Fouchères. There, residents dug graves for the many sick people away from the houses. The forest is therefore both part of the town’s recorded history and part of the landscape where the memorial site is located.

The Bois des Fouchères walking trail passes through a woodland area with great biological diversity. This description of the natural setting complements the Cimetière’s historical significance without conflating the two: the trail represents the woodland and its biological diversity, while the memorial site is tied to the plague and the history of the graves. Those interested in nature or local history will find different points of interest within the same named woodland.

Fountain complexes with different features

The Grande Fontaine is located on Rue de la Grande Fontaine. It is an uncovered complex comprising a fountain, a livestock watering trough, a rinsing basin and a washhouse. The individual features distinguish the complex by their functions: alongside the fountain, it includes both a trough for livestock and facilities for rinsing and washing.

The Fontaine de la Bonde on Route de la Noironte is situated in front of a covered washhouse. By comparison, the Grande Fontaine is described as an uncovered complex with four features; for the Bonde, the emphasis is on the relationship between the fountain and the covered washhouse. These structural features provide a clear distinction between the two fountain complexes.

If you are looking for a hotel for a trip to Recologne, the buildings, sacred art, memorial sites and woodland landscape can help you decide which aspects of the town are of particular interest to you.

Discover more destinations: Cubry, Lavans-Vuillafans, Pierrefontaine-les-Varans, Fleurey, Bremondans, Saint-Point-Lac, Foucherans, Audincourt.

For the broader travel overview: Doubs.