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The area’s topographical diversity and the abundance of natural resources are at the origin of numerous settlements which have succeeded each other practically without interruption since 6000 years.
At the Paleolithic age (about 150’000 before J.C.) the region is visited by huntsmen. The high plains and the steep cliff on the east offer ideal conditions for their way of living : vast prairies where mammoths, bisons and aurochs graze; springs at the foot of the rocks; and caverns which provide shelter and occasional refuge for bears and lions.
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During the Neolithic age, about 4300 before J.C., peasants settle on a terrace at the bottom of the cliff. Well protected against the north winds, and oriented towards the rising sun, this terrace lies close to the water springs and near the caverns, from which argil is extracted for the construction of clay and straw walls as well as for the fabrication of pottery.
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Given the various natural advantages, the habitats continue to exist with more or less no interruption until the end of the bronze age, i.e. until about 800 before J.C. Amber and coral pearls, shells, pottery, and fragments of tools and weapons bear witness of wide–ranging contacts with the west of Germany, with Switzerland and the Adriatic region. The density of grave sites (tumuli) on the high plains is a testimony of the long duration of the settlements.
At the times of the Roman conquest and of the subsequent invasions by barbarian
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tribes, the site is again chosen for settlement. The caverns serve as refuge as well as for hiding coins, jewelry and burials.
With the advent of more peaceful times the habitats of the valleys are being resettled. This is also the beginning of a pagan cult of water deities, a practice still in place as late as 1823 (miraculous fountain of St. Ploto in St. Romain ). A Merovingian necropolis with sarcophagi gradually extends over the promontory of St. Romain-le-Haut.
In the 10th century the settlement at the foot of the cliff (“Site du Verger”) is re-arranged : a group of five stone houses protected by a semi-circular wall apposed to the cliff. This settlement is attacked and burnt down. The discovered fragments of weapons and riding gear, of jewelry, chess games and of music instruments point to the presence of an aristocracy which finds its expression in a castle built in the 11 th century.
The castle is erected on the southern tip of the promontory dominating the lower village, and comprises numerous buildings including a chapel which, from the 11 th century until the end of the Middle Ages, serves as village church. The coexistence of worldly and religious |
authorities leads to a grouping of the population at the actual site of the village surrounded by vineyards. On August 3, 1300, the Dukes of Burgundy purchase the complete seigneury comprising St. Romain with its mills, barns and ponds as well as five other villages, i.e. Orches, Evelles, Dracy, Baubigny and Melin.
From 1350 until 1450 brigandage, pest epidemics and famines provoke a deep crisis in the course of which no renovation is being carried out on the approximately ten buildings of the castle except for the one housing the wine press, the Dukes giving special care to their wines carefully stocked in the castle’s cellars.
At the end of the Middle Ages the parish church is transferred from the castle grounds to the site of a cluniacensic Roman priorate at the heart of the upper village.
This church offers several curiosities. At the entrance, under the bell tower, impressive baptismal fountains dominate a stairway of eleven steps. At the end of the nave an eagle with extended wings supports a stone pulpit created in 1609. Its ramp is animated by a relief representing the predatory animals of the wine grapes.
At the Revolution the church of St. Romain becomes the Temple of the Supreme Being of Belle Roche. The stones of the castle ruines are used to construct or reconstruct the village houses.
In 1850 the village numbers 850 inhabitants. Following a steep demographic decline due to the phylloxera disease and the world wars, the population tends to stabilize around 230 inhabitants.
Since 1947 the vineyards are classified as Côte de Beaune. They enhance the identity of the village and constitute one of its major economic resources. Since 1997 St. Romain and its site are environmentally protected.
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