Near the village of Pontenx, in the middle of the woods, on a secluded airial, two houses, a 12th century chapel and a famous miraculous fountain, have for a very long time, every 24th June, attracted a very large crowd of locals to a landmark gathering.
In the past, fairs, Mass, procession, vespers, salvation of the Blessed Sacrament and... ball.
Today, the ball and the fair have disappeared, but the Eucharist, a parish fair, the blessing of the fountain and the procession remain.
Some see the survival of an assembly place from the first centuries around a sacred fountain, recovered by Christianity under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, the chapel replacing the pagan temple, the trade fair replacing the social and political meeting.
For the locals, the place is called "Saint John of Bourricos" or "Bourricos"
Some say "Bouricos..."
The well maintained fountain protected by a stone wall in an airial near the church of Bourricos.
The so-called miraculous fountain is supposed to cure rheumatism and joint pains, skin diseases, wounds, eczema and ... "maus deth sen Yan" (joint pain) and "maus deth Rei" (nuts) ... and even epilepsy!
The Legend
It is said that St. John the Baptist on his way to Santiago de Compostela stopped there and treated his tired limbs at the source.
He was accompanied by Saint Anthony and a lamb.
The first brought forth his own spring and the second, a symbol of God's love, left his name at another watering place.
This spring of St. Cô - the heart of Jesus - flowed on the left side of the forest road that starts behind the barn of the airial, 100 m away from there on the edge of a craste. As for the spring of St. John, only a wrought iron cross marks its location, but all rituals have disappeared in these two places.
It is whispered that a fleeing man carrying a cassette full of gold disappeared into the fountain. Another stranger, later, looking for the cassette, is said to have disappeared from the fountain as well...
How to get there
On the RD 626, 13 km from Labouheyre and before Pontenx, a small road leads to the airial of Bouricos, the spring below the church and the houses where the monks of the fraternity live.
https://fontainesdeslandes.fr/?q=node/191
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