| Fountain of the Banneret |  |
| This is the Fountain of the Swiss, also known as the Fountain of the Banneret. It originally dates from 1558 and its bannerman riding a boar is wearing the colours of Porrentruy. The original statue was apparently destroyed in 1814 by supporters of France a year before the Jura joined the canton of Bern and it was not until 86 years later that the present statue was installed. |
| Fountain of the Samaritan Woman | |
| This fountain dates from 1564 but was renovated in 1964 and the original statues can be seen in the Town Hall. It is one of three monumental fountains in Porrentruy, the work of Laurent Perrolz, a master mason from Cressier, a village located between the lakes of Neuchâtel and Biel. |
| Grand-Rue (1) | |
| We will now arrive at Hôtel-Dieu, one of the most beautiful buildings in Porrentruy, with the Samaritan fountain, one of the three monumental fountains of the town, just a little further up. |
| Grand-Rue (2) | |
| Our virtual stroll in Porrentruy focused on the castle and only made a very brief passage through the old town. It ends here but may be extended one day! |
| Hôtel-Dieu | |
| In the heart of the old town, this splendid historic building, built in 1765, was the former bourgeois hospital, disused in 1956. It houses not only the Hôtel-Dieu Museum (Jura Art and History Museum), but also the PIRE (Incongruous Palace of Astonishing Rarities) of the artists Plonk and Replonk. |
| Rue du 23-Juin | |
| It is in this street that you will find the Jura Tourist Office. The name of the street does not refer to the creation of the canton of Jura in 1979, but to the 1974 referendum which forced the canton of Bern to agree to give up a large part of what was then called the Bernese Jura. |
| Rue Pierre-Péquignat (1) | |
| After our virtual stroll around the castle and down to the banks of the Allaine river, we went to the town centre to do some location scouting. We shot a small series of panoramas, the first of which you can see here, taken in front of Hôtel des Halles, which houses a contemporary art space. |
| Rue Pierre-Péquignat (2) | |
| Driven by curiosity, we continued up the street, which bears the name of a farmer who led a peasant revolt against the dictatorship of the prince-bishop of Basel. Sentenced to death, Pierre Péquignat was beheaded in 1740, quartered and his bloody limbs were placed at the entrance to the Ajoie town halls, so that everyone would understand the fate that awaited those who continued the revolt... |
| Town Hall | |
| The town hall of Porrentruy is a magnificent baroque building built in 1761-1764, combining French and South German influences. Its bulbous dome is surmounted by a very slender bell tower which houses a bell dating from 1455. Its public clock, already mentioned in 1413 and whose movement dates from 1760, is the work of a master clockmaker from Neuchâtel. |
