Grotte église de Sainte-Colombe

Grotte der Heiligen Columba

Useful Information

Location:	route Principale 14, 2863 Undervelier. On the left bank of the Sorne in the second Sorne gorge between the villages of Les Forges and Undervelier, next to the main road 248.4, which links the Delsberg basin with Bellelay. (47.3067500, 7.2189740)
Open:	No restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Cave Church Karst Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	W=26 m, H=7 m, L=30 m, A=531 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Grotte église de Sainte-Colombe, route Principale 14, 2863 Undervelier.
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History

1868	excavated by Sentier Auguste Quiquerez (*1801–✝1882).
1942	excavated by Frédéric-Edouard Koby (*1890–✝1969).
1994	Bronze Age artefacts studied by M. Schenardi.

Description

The Kanton Jura is located at the border to France, nevertheless, the people speak German, but all are fluent in French. So the name of this cave church is Grotte der Heiligen Columba, but it is known as Grotte église de Sainte-Colombe as well. The church was built into a huge cave chamber with a huge portal. The cave has only this single chamber and is located at the road in the Klus (gorge) of the Sorne river north of the village Undervelier. The river gave its name to the Sornegau, which is the valley of Delémont.

Sainte Colombe was a young Spanish princess who died a martyr in Sens in the 4th century. Why the cave was dedicated to this saint remains unclear. Bishop Vautrey reports that there is a local legend, that she spent some time here, contemplating the eternal truths, as well as in another cave of the same name, which is at the height of the mountain, called Frenois, which dominates the village of Soulce. Pierre Olvier Walzer tells us in his Life of the Saints of the Jura, that she was born into a princely but pagan family of Saragossa. She was baptized in Dauphiné, then had sought refuge in the Jura mountains during the time of persecutions in Gaul. She suffered martyrdom in Sens, either on 31-DEC-273 or 31-DEC-274 under the emperor Aurelian. She was helped by a bear who freed her from a rapist and pulled her out of a fire. Another version tells that miraculous rain put out the fire.

The cave of Sainte Colombe is said to have a spring, but actually it is dripping water which is collected at the foot of a stalagmite. During the Middle Ages this site was a place of pilgrimage, and until today the sick and infirm who hope to find healing visit the cave for the miraculous water that springs from the rock. Mothers who have weak and sick children have them receive a "fortifying shower under the waterfall". Every year on 15-AUG, the stretcher-bearers of the Jura organise a pilgrimage in which a large number of pilgrims and sick people visit the cave. The pilgrimage site was set up by Prince-Bishop François-Joseph Sigismond de Roggenbach between 1782 and 1794. But the current appearance of the cave dates from around 1900.

The cave was excavated and revealed Bronze Age and Neolithic remains. The first excavation by Sentier Auguste Quiquerez (*1801–✝1882) was in 1868. It was again excavated by Frédéric-Edouard Koby (*1890–✝1969) in 1942. Despite considerable disturbance of the strata, bones and worked flint artefacts indicate the presence of humans during the Stone Age. Beaver, elk and ibex are documented by animal bone finds. The site is also known for pottery finds from the Middle and Late Bronze Age around 1500 to 1000 BC. Iron artefacts and Gallo-Roman and medieval pottery were found.