The Parc des Roches, listed as a Remarkable Garden by the French Ministry of Culture, is situated below the Promenade du Côna, a majestic avenue of lime trees built in 1760 on the crest of the spur that once held the château and its chapel, now the collegiate church of Notre-Dame, overlooking the Meuse.
On the site of a former stone quarry and village gardens, Hyacinthe Mutel, between 1816 and 1851, took advantage of the rocky cliffs to create a romantic landscape combining artificial and natural elements: staircases, cadoles (shelters) and dry-stone lodges, local and imported trees, limestone cliffs whose wild appearance is amplified by dry-stone walls and false ruins that blend in with them. Through subtle design, Mutel offers a journey through a picturesque landscape where the intimate alternates with the sublime, deeply touching the soul of the walker.
The Promenade du Côna (a word that reflects the topography: the hill is cone-shaped), links the Church of Notre-Dame, built in 1756, from which there is a fine panoramic view over the valley, and the Calvary. All along the walk, along the walls of the gardens that still bear the imprint of the destroyed castle, you can see the old village, fortified in the 13th century.
Continuing along the path, you come to the small oratory, built in memory of a duel that outraged the local population in the 16th century. The 18th-century Virgin of Mercy in this oratory probably comes from the chapel of the Annonciades, which was converted into a civil building during the Revolution. From the oratory, you can walk down "Les 104", a picturesque stone staircase that runs alongside the old fortifications and leads to the village.
At the southern end of the promenade du Côna is the calvary, erected in 1697 and rebuilt in 1759. The cross, which was struck by lightning and burnt down, was rebuilt several times until the current cross was erected in 2000. At its foot is a pietà. Continuing along the path, you come to a panoramic view of the upper Meuse valley.
Parc des Roches et promenade du Côna
