Notre Dame de Bellefontaine takes its name from a spring, a clear fountain, which gushes from the ground even during the driest months of the year.

Legend tells of a wounded hunter who plunged his bloody hand into the clear water of the spring.

He is said to have implored the Virgin Mary for help and to have been immediately healed through her intercession.

Out of gratitude, the hunter is said to have placed an image of the Virgin Mary very close to the fountain.

Tradition places this miraculous healing in the 16th century.

The image of the Virgin soon became known throughout the region.

Pilgrims came there in great numbers to offer their devotions.

It was around 1750 that a chapel was built, the care of which was entrusted to a hermit.