Ermitage Notre-Dame d'Esparron

Ermitage Notre-Dame d'Esparron is a mountain hermitage and pilgrimage site sitting at roughly 1,140 metres of altitude in the commune of Le Percy, in the Isère department, on the southern rim of the Vercors massif near the Diois range. Tucked close to the peaks of Tête de Praorzel and Mont-Barral, it rewards visitors willing to combine a forest walk with a look at a place shaped by both centuries-old devotion and wartime tragedy.

Where is the hermitage and how do you reach it?

The site lies on the western edge of Percy's communal territory. Travellers coming from the Trièves valley typically approach via the road linking the village of Chichilianne to the Col de Menée, then continue on a forest track that begins south of the Col du Prayet. The final stretch has to be covered on foot, which turns a visit into a short hike rather than a simple roadside stop — part of the appeal for anyone looking for a quieter corner of the Vercors.

How did this pilgrimage site come to exist?

Local tradition traces the origins of devotion here to the 13th century, when children and muleteers from the town of Die reportedly witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The hermitage building itself came later, constructed in the 18th century. Toward the end of the 19th century, in 1892, Canon Michel expanded the site and gave it a new purpose, turning the former monastery into a shelter that welcomed the sick and people in difficult circumstances.

What happened here during the Second World War?

The hermitage has a hard-won place in the history of the Vercors resistance. At dawn on 3 February 1944, the monastery on the massif's south-eastern slopes was attacked by a force of roughly seven hundred German infantrymen, backed by armoured cars and mortars. The maquis camp defending the site, known as C 11, was one of the oldest outposts of the Secret Army in the Vercors, numbering around thirty young men, only ten of whom were armed, under the command of Gaston Cathala, a former Alpine infantry sergeant. Facing overwhelming numbers, the maquisards fell back toward the surrounding summits, inflicting losses estimated at twenty to thirty killed or wounded on the German side. They themselves lost two men killed, with several wounded and missing. Once in control of the site, the German troops set the buildings on fire.

Why did pilgrimages stop for a while?

The buildings had already suffered damage once before, under very different circumstances: on 15 August 1907, a lightning strike destroyed the inn attached to the hermitage, which ended the period of permanent habitation there. The destruction from the war years then compounded decades of abandonment that followed.

What does the hermitage look like today?

Reconstruction began in the 1980s, after part of the site passed into the ownership of the Diocese of Grenoble. The buildings needed to host pilgrims again were rebuilt through donations from pilgrims themselves and the work of volunteers. The sanctuary has since resumed its centuries-old role of welcoming visitors, with spiritual gatherings and activities organised on the site during the summer months.

Frequently asked questions

How high up is Ermitage Notre-Dame d'Esparron? The site sits at approximately 1,140 metres of altitude, on the southern edge of the Vercors massif.

How do you get to the hermitage? The usual approach is from Chichilianne toward the Col de Menée, followed by a forest track from the Col du Prayet that must be walked on foot for the final stretch.

Why did pilgrims start coming here in the first place? Tradition attributes the origin of the pilgrimage to a 13th-century Marian apparition reportedly witnessed by children and muleteers from Die.

What role did the hermitage play in the Second World War? In February 1944 it was the site of a German attack on a Vercors maquis camp, an assault that ended with the buildings being burned.

Can the hermitage be visited today? Yes. Following reconstruction that began in the 1980s, the site again functions as a sanctuary welcoming pilgrims, particularly during the summer.