Alièze brings together a specific memorial site, a clearly described village layout and a historic cheese-making tradition. The Monument d’Alièze, the parish church, the right-angled street layout and the history of the dairy offer different ways to explore the village’s past. For your planning, consider two different questions: Would you like to learn about the memorial site, look at the village’s architectural forms or find out more about earlier cheese production? The route to the monument is clearly specified.
The monument and how to get there
The Monument d’Alièze was erected at the place where the Germans burned the bodies. About 100 metres away is the farm that had sheltered them.
From Lons-le-Saunier, follow the RD 52 towards Haut-Jura, then take the turn-off for Alièze and continue along the small road to the Rippes d’Alièze until the end of the road. The sequence is specific: first the RD 52, then the turn-off, and finally the small access road. Road conditions and signage may change; check the route before setting off.
Local history and street layout
After its destruction in 1639, Alièze was rebuilt at the foot of the mountain dominated by the fortress. Another aspect of the village’s layout is the right-angled intersection of its two streets: together, they form the shape of a Greek cross. The term describes the layout using a clear geometric image. These two aspects draw attention to different scales: the rebuilding concerns the development of the village, while the cross shape concerns the arrangement of its streets.
The parish church
The parish church of Alièze is dedicated to John the Baptist. Its nave is single-aisled and has two chapels. A nave is the elongated main space of a church; single-aisled means that it has one main aisle. The two chapels add to this spatial arrangement. The dedication and the architectural form are two easily distinguished aspects: one names the saint, while the other describes the layout of the church interior. For anyone interested in sacred architecture, this look at a building complements the broader scale of the street-cross layout.
Cheese production in the 19th century
The cheese-making tradition is documented for the 1870s through details about construction and production. A new dairy was built north of Alièze’s original cheese dairy in 1873 or 1874. In 1875, the Alièze cheese dairy produced 12,889 kilograms of cheese from the milk of 145 cows. According to the calendar, the building was completed one or two years before the production year. The history of cheese-making thus offers two closely timed perspectives: the construction of a new dairy and the cheese dairy’s annual output. For culinary enthusiasts, the stated production figure provides a concrete measure of Alièze’s milk processing at the time.
The topics are also separated in time: the rebuilding belongs to the history after 1639, while the information about the dairy and cheese production dates from the 1870s. This allows you to consider the village’s architectural history and cheese-making tradition as distinct historical chapters.
Discover more destinations: Montbarrey, Lons-Le-Saunier, Villeneuve-sous-Pymont, Dampierre, Prémanon, Pont-D'héry, Longchaumois, Le Deschaux
For the wider travel overview: Jura.
