The Vy-aux-Moines is a Franco-Swiss cultural route created in 2007.It allows crossing the Jura Mountains by following an ancient path connecting the priory of Môtiers (Switzerland) and the abbey of Montbenoît (France). This cultural route enables hikers to explore a portion of the high Jura valleys while discovering interesting aspects of regional history and splendid landscapes
Origin of the route:
Tradition often attributes the exploration, clearing, and settlement of the high Jura valleys to the monks, dating the beginning of this occupation to the 11th and 12th centuries. However, this theory needs to be nuanced, as archaeology now dates the earliest traces of what would become the Saint-Pierre de Môtiers priory to the 6th century, in a Val-de-Travers region exploited by farmers since Roman times. On the other hand, palynological research conducted in the high Jura mountain range reveals a very ancient human occupation, predating the establishment of the four monastic sites in the Pontarlier region: the Cluniac priory of Saint-Pierre de Morteau, the Augustinian abbey of Montbenoît, the Cistercian abbey of Mont-Sainte-Marie, and the Benedictine priory of Saint-Simon de Mouthe, monasteries founded between the 11th and 13th centuries. While the Jura valleys have been inhabited for a long time and the monks did not settle in depopulated mountains, the establishment of the monasteries in the Middle Ages coincides with the development of agriculture and pastoralism, as well as the consolidation of a previously scattered population. Their presence also contributes to the development of more specialized artisanal and pastoral activities.
In the late 11th century, two abbeys - Cluny (Burgundy) and La Chaise-Dieu (Auvergne) - contested control over the Val-de-Travers route through the possession of the Môtiers monastery. In 1107, it was ultimately attached to the Benedictine Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu, while the Abbey of Montbenoît, first mentioned in texts in 1117, adhered to the rule of Saint Augustine from 1150 onwards. However, it has not yet benefited from archaeological excavations that could shed light on its origins.
Although the archives unfortunately do not allow for the exact nature of the links between the two monasteries to be established, it can be safely affirmed that their occupants operated in very similar environments and must have had plenty of opportunities for material and spiritual exchanges. The Vy-aux-Moines, celebrated in the early 21st century, also testifies to the diversity of transportation routes that traversed the Jura mountain range, as well as the cultural and commercial interests that united the inhabitants of the Jura Massif from the Middle Ages to the present day.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vy-aux-Moines
https://www.travers-info.ch/tourisme/voy_vdt08.shtml?mwg_rnd=1450482
