Publication

Fontaines, village with about 2,000 inhabitants, piedmont of the “côte châlonnaise”, has a rich and varied history from the prehistory.

As most of burgundy villages, it’s built almost with stone: testify to its ancient murets, number of its houses of stone, its church, its washhouses…

Dominated by Saint Hilaire mountain with its tower, Fontaines owes its old quarries, at the same time its identity and its notoriety.

We know indeed that the white facing of Gallo-Roman gates of Arroux and of Saint André, in Autun, come from (stone of Fontaines)? We know again that its has been used for many monument to the dead of the Great War (Fontaines, Virey, Champforgeuil…) ? Or for the construction of Farges, Corpeaux and Louhans churches? Or again for the ornament of “Galeries Lafayettes” or Edouard Herriot hospital in Lyon…?

In Fontaines, just look at the sunset and you will see the old quarries, irregular working face about a mile long, for centuries, eroded for various uses near a quarter of the original Saint Hilaire mountain’s volume.

We know the history of the quarries covers a period that extends from the romanization of Burgundy until the 1965-70’s, with the construction of the highway A6, nearly 23 centuries. It’s for tell about this long past that Michel Bonnot has published a book on the history of Fontaines’s quarries: “Mémoire de pierres: histoire des carrières de Fontaines.”

Results of hard work researches, started in 2013, It’s also the first editorial testimony collaboration between a writer, university education; two associations from Fontaines (“Le vieux Fontaines” and “Groupe de Recherches et d’Etudes Fontenoises”), and inhabitants from Fontaines who are passionate by the history of the village.

Themes: the quarries geology, their story; various jobs of the “Fontaines’s stone”; The installation projects of the cement centers; the methods of exploiting the cutting stone; Tools…
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Book available in French
At the writer’s house: 7 rue du 19 mars 1962, 71150 Fontaines.
+33 (0) 3.85.95.49 Email: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
116 pages, 130 pictures and illustrations, Price: 19 €