Way of the Cross around Saint-Laurent-du-Pont

Park in the car park by the church in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont.

(S/E) Walk alongside the church to go round the back and cross the grounds of the former vicarage to reach Rue Charles Berty. Turn right. Cross Rue Jules Ferry and continue to the Guiers Mort river. Do not cross the footbridge but turn left onto Avenue Charles de Gaulle towards the stadium. Walk through the stadium, keeping the football and rugby pitches on your right and the sports hall on your left. Join Avenue du Commandant Lherminier and turn right. Pass the Paturle company on your right and continue along the road until you reach the edge of the fields.

(1) Continue along Chemin de la Seyta. Walk past the houses in the Sappeys housing estate. Continue to the Grand Villette crossroads.

(2) Turn left onto Route du Pavé. Pass a cross before reaching Villette.
Carry on to the village of Villette with its church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

(3) Carry on straight ahead along Chemin de la Guillotière to Les Trois Croix.

(4) Retrace your steps back to the centre of Villette.

(3) Turn right onto the Route de Villette towards Saint-Laurent-du-Pont to reach the cemetery, in the centre of which stands a cross.

(5) As you leave the cemetery, turn left towards Saint-Laurent-du-Pont. Keep to the left-hand side of the road.
Please be careful, as some drivers go fast on this stretch of road.
Carry on to the Croix Poulaillon, on the left-hand side of the roundabout.

(6) Carry on to the right along Avenue Jules Ferry and immediately turn right onto Rue Guy Trouilloud, which continues from there. Carry on to the main road, the D520 (Voiron–Chambéry road).
Cross it and head up Rue des Anciens Combattants d’Afrique du Nord. At the top of the street, on the left, there is a cross. Continue to the Croix de Cotterg.
Turn right onto Rue du Cotterg. 200 metres further on, on the right, is the ‘house with the tower’, probably a former castle. Next to it is an old wash house and a cross.

(7) Continue straight on along Rue du Cotterg. At the next junction, near a house, there is another cross.

(8) Retrace your steps back to the previous crossroads.

(7) Turn right onto Rue du Vieux Porche. Walk uphill to the cemetery.
Turn right onto the road that climbs alongside the cemetery. Pass the Rocherey Centre on your left and continue along a small path that runs parallel to the road, near a sign reading: Route de Fontmartin.
The Notre-Dame du Château Chapel stands in the middle of a grove of trees. A Way of the Cross and a calvary are situated on the former site of the castle.
The chapel is open in summer. You can see inside through a window. Walk down the winding path towards the centre of Saint-Laurent-du-Pont. In the square, there is a fountain with a cross. Turn right onto Rue Ferdinand Buisson. A mission cross marks the entrance to the town. Join the D520b Route de Chartreuse.

(9) Retrace your steps along Avenue de la Grande Chartreuse. Cross the main road, then turn left into Rue Pasteur until you reach the town hall.
Head towards the bus car park, walk past the police station and go round the nursery. A path leads to the back of the church and its car park (S/E).

(1) Option: Continue to the right to the Domaine de Grand Villette, a former Carthusian farm barn. This site was later a château, then a holiday centre, and is now a stopover lodge.
(3) Option: turn right towards Miribel to reach the Bayonnière cross, situated at the foot of the climb. Then return to the centre of Villette (an extra 1 km).

Along this route, created in 2020, you can enjoy:
(Between 1 and 2) Sandrine Chappaz’s chocolate shop, in the Sappeys housing estate,
(2) Le Bonnet d’Âne restaurant in Villette,
(Between 6 and 7) Boulangerie au Cotterg,
(Between 10 and S/E) All shops, services and restaurants in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, at the start and finish.

(Between 2 and 3) You can admire the view of Saint-Laurent-du-Pont with its church, the castle chapel, the hospital and the entrance to the Guiers Mort valley.
(6) Take in the mountains on either side of the Guiers Mort: on the left, the Pertuis viewpoint, and on the right, the None viewpoint.
(9) Walk down to the banks of the Guiers Mort to see the hospital built by the Carthusians in the^19th century to provide the medical care that had previously been provided at the monastery.

(Between 10 and S/E) As you walk through the square behind the town hall, you can see an old house with a tower and a town house with a cross on its gable.