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Lucelle

On the Franco-Swiss site of Lucelle, one of the most significant Cistercian abbeys in Europe, daughter-house of Bellevaux, with around forty descendents, stood from 1124 to 1792. In 1792, the church and the conventual buildings were demolished; the stones sold and reused in new Swiss and French constructions in the region. A foundry that manufactured cast-iron and steel objects replaced the Abbey up until 1886. When the site was bought by the association ?oeuvre de Lucelle? under the instigation of Abbot A. Lidy in 1961 he had set himself the aim of restoring the souvenir of the Abbey. Thanks to the family holiday home (also Centre Européen de Rencontres since 1999) based in the buildings for the convent's employees, the chapel created in the industrial warehouse of the XIXth century foundry and also the restaurant ?Le Relais de l'Abbaye? using the walls of the warehouse, shed and XVIIth century barn to recall the gastronomic contribution of the monks to modern Sundgauvian tourism (fried trout and carp), the objectives set have virtually been attained. All that remains is to recall the ?iron era?, the industrial period in the XIXth century: a metal fountain crowned with the head of a confederate with the words ?Usines de Lucelle?. Cast-iron bench mounts again with the same words; an old reservoir made from Jura limestone.