Beaujolais is a French natural region, corresponding to a former barony, located north of Lyon, extending over the north of the Rhône department, the south of the Saône-et-Loire department, and the northeast of the Loire. I’m pushing a bit beyond the traditional boundaries, up to Tournus, as the themes are similar. The north of the Saône-et-Loire area is documented in the post on Autun.

In general, it’s a pretty region with pockets of industrial blight. The countryside is littered with castles, very high-end vineyards, and rolling hills. For Romanesque and Clunisian history, it’s a gold mine, with another treasure around every corner. I particularly like the more northern reaches around Cluny and to the east of Tournus.

Because this has started to turn into a “churches and castles” post, I’m going to take a more direct organization style, highlighting the Romanesque highlights first, followed by towns and castles we’ve explored in greater depth.

The Romanesque Collection (so far):

**Église Saint-Martin (Chapaize) 
One of the oldest Romanesque churches in Burgundy, the only vestige of a Benedictine priory founded in the 10th century. The fame of this church is due to the originality of its bell tower (built c. 1050), which is visible from a long distance in this rural area. The interior is fairly austere, though try to find the fossils visible in the limestone.

**Abbaye de Cluny (Cluny) is a former Benedictine monastery. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches built in succession from the 4th to the early 12th centuries. The earliest basilica was the world’s largest church until the St. Peter’s Basilica construction began in Rome.

It’s architecturally important, and the experience does a good job of helping you visualize what was there (because so much is gone now). It’s not the most exciting of tours, and tends towards crowded. The surrounding town isn’t very appealing – stay somewhere else.

Paray-le-Monial is in the heart of the Charolais countryside – for most a drive through destination leading from Macon to the Loire valley or points further east. It has a high tourist volume, particularly for Catholic tourism, and secondarily for canal boat people, being a nice stop on a popular route.

Count Lambert of Chalon, together with his wife Adelaide and his friend Mayeul de Cluny, founded a Benedictine priory in the town in 973 – starting a Cluny “empire” that lasted from 999 until 1789.

I wasn’t entirely taken with the town – it’s an easy stop for a meal and a visit to the church, but I wouldn’t invest much more time than that.

The romanesque *Basilique du Sacré-Coeur is effectively a scale model of Cluny III, built by the same workshop tradition: three-storey elevation, pointed barrel vault, ambulatory with radiating chapels. It’s important, especially as Cluny is a ruin, to understand the genre. It has been cleaned up within an inch of its life (not to my taste), and aside from the classic exterior, there isn’t much to see (though bonus points for a very interesting modern organ).

We had a perfectly fine lunch at **Le Tire-Bouchon; Galen’s burger was better than my salad.

The remains of ***Saint-Hippolyte Church in tiny berg Bonnay-Saint-Ythaire are well worth a detour from Cormatin (it’s a very short drive away). Associated with Cluny, the remains of the current fortified church date from the end of the 11th century. The nave collapsed in the 15th century. It’s a very photogenic spot.

Belleville-en-Beaujolais is one of many Beaujolais towns, largely unremarkable except for a large late Romanesque church with a beautiful, recently restored facade. The **Church of Notre-Dame (for next time – take a picture!) is the only vestige of an abbey of Augustinian canons founded in 1158 by the lords of Beaujeu. The church, begun in 1168 and consecrated in 1179, was both an abbey, parish and necropolis of the sires. The interior is strikingly different, interesting on its own but quite dark and retaining a surprising amount of historic decorations.

**Eglise de Saint-Gengoux-le-National (completed 1120) was built by the monks of Cluny as the centre of a deanery. It has been altered over the centuries, with a Romanesque transept, a large octagonal bell tower with two lower storeys  (1566), and a Gothic choir with a neo-Gothic stained glass window. It is currently being restored (aggressively, in my opinion) and appears to be about 75% of the way towards a very clean, whitewashed interior. A fine stop, if not the most novel or engaging building.

The **Abbey of St Philibert (Tournus) and its convent buildings dominate the town. Saint-Philibert’s relics were brought here in the 9th century when vikings attacked western France, and in whose honor the abbey was built – but earlier than that, in the 2nd century, it was here that Valerien preached christianity (and was beheaded by the Romans), so Tournus has been an important religious center from a very early time. The abbey church is probably the oldest Roman style church of its kind in existence, and the only surviving group of monastic buildings dating back to the 12th century which exists in Europe.

St Philibert’s story is the centerpiece of signage at the church itself (I saw no mention of Vikings). The building is austere and carefully restored (including recent work in this century, which uncovered 12th century mosaics). It’s a nice stop, though not particularly memorable.

Berzé-le-Châtel 

The ***Berzé-le-Châtel Fortress is a surprising charmer – you can’t see a ton (people live there), but they let you wander the grounds and explore the outbuildings. It’s super “castelly,” makes for awesome photos. There’s a small Romanesque chapel with an important Cluniac wall painting: a Christ in Majesty over a frieze of martyrdoms, in a manner drawing on Byzantine and Ottonian models, dating to around the year 1100. 

Takes about 30 minutes to tour.

Brancion

At the midpoint of the Romanesque road linking the abbeys of Tournus and Cluny, perched on a hill, the village of Brancion & the **Brancion Castle include a wealth of architecture from the Middle Ages: a fortified gateway, a keep overseeing the small village, and a Romanesque church. We visited in mid-April on a sunny Saturday and really enjoyed our visit – low crowds, great views of the surrounding countryside, an interesting castle tour paired with a good audio guide. I imagine in mid-summer it could be a bit of a zoo, perhaps aim for mid-week. Allow about 90 minutes to tour leisurely. 

As you leave town heading towards Cluny, don’t miss the impressive **Menhir de la Pierre Levée – a druidic stone dating back more than 4,000 years, weighing about five tons and 3.8 meters high. It was Christianized at some point, with a stone cross placed at its top. It’s easy to access and impressive.

Corcelles-en-Beaujolais & Fleurie

**Château de Corcelles is one of the many castles in this region – in this case it’s an events venue and winery. It’s not a standout experience and the wine is definitely on the lower end, but it’s a pretty location and there’s a decent audio tour.

This area is packed with wine tasting opportunities. One of the bigger is Fleurie, which has a good range of restaurants, tasting rooms, and offers a great view from La Madone Chapel at the highest point of these valleys (425 meters). The impressive statue on top is the landmark for the Fleurie vines. We had a perfectly acceptable lunch at **Chez Pauline, which has a limited menu and not exactly warm service, but what they offer is tasty. Very casual.

Cormatin

A short drive north of Cluny, Cormatin is a rather pretty small town with several restaurants, and a picturesque castle with formal gardens – the **Château de Cormatin. It’s not huge, quite manageable for a 90 minute visit. There’s an impressive moat.

We had a very good lunch at **Chez l’oncle Jules, recommended.

Cuiseaux

***Le Bistrot Gourmand is a hidden and rather wonderful find in a small town on the edge of the Jura. It’s very regional, but with some range (think Jura wines, the best of Lyon cuisine, bresse chicken). 

Igé

*Château d’Igé is the main site in Ige (aside from a few other hotels & B&Bs). It’s very tired, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. Rooms are worn out, service is lackluster, breakfast is just bad. Mixed experience with the fancy restaurant – Galen’s meal was good, mine was bad. Pool area is nice. Skip. 

Mâcon

Mâcon is a fairly working-class small city, but it has a nice cheerful energy, good pedestrian traffic, a well-marked walking tour, and a decent amount of intact medieval (and older) architecture. Our food choices so far have been lacking, but the area is packed with restaurants and it’s worth continuing to try. 

• **Musée des Ursulines is a small regional art museum with a surprisingly good collection. I especially liked the landscapes.
• We had an excellent Bistro lunch at **The Wooden House.
• *Brasserie Bar de l’hôtel de ville du centre (just in front of the cathedral) is very average, I’d skip.
• On the edges of town there’s a higher-end and popular outdoor furniture store, Fermob.

Saint-Gengoux-le-National

Saint-Gengoux-le-National is an especially pretty medieval town, visited (of course) for another Romanesque cathedral (see above). It was founded and fortified in the 12th century following a 1166 treaty between King Louis VII and the Abbot of Cluny.

Originally situated at the crossroads of routes connecting Cluny, Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun, Tournus, and Mâcon, the town clearly had moments of affluence, and houses date back from the  13th century onward. Today, I have the impression most traffic comes via the “Voie Verte,” the long distance bike trail crossing large areas of France. We’ll be back for a deeper look.

Saint-Point

*Château de Saint-Point – Maison d’Alphonse de Lamartine is (as described) the home of Alphonse de Lamartine, a famous poet of France. Hours are limited (your best bet is trying in July/August and reserving time for a scheduled tour). We enjoyed it, though the rapid French description was a bit hard to keep up with – the emphasis was on the poet himself, more so than the property. The Chateau, a castle of the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, was “remodeled” from a very dilapidated state in the 1800s, with some interesting elements and a lot of poor taste. Lovely setting though. There’s a well-loved, rather run down, Romanesque Church next door.

Make a day of visiting by having lunch in Bourgvilian, a small town 10 minutes away – more a collection of houses than a village, with a destination-dining restaurant, **Auberge la Rochette. Food was very good. 

Savigny-sur-Grosne

We had a fairly terrible lunch at *Bistrot de Messeugne, in a campground in Savigny-sur-Grosne, only saved by good company to laugh at all the mistakes. Incredibly slow service (90 minutes for the food to appear), out of half the menu items, below-average execution.

Tournus

Tournus is a bit off the beaten tourist track, but has some renown as a foodie destination (Michelin calls out four restaurants, including two one-stars), in the middle of vineyards and the “castle row” of Burgundy.

The **Abbey of St Philibert and its convent buildings dominate the town. Saint-Philibert’s relics were brought here in the 9th century when vikings attacked western France, and in whose honor the abbey was built – but earlier than that, in the 2nd century, it was here that Valerien preached christianity (and was beheaded by the Romans), so Tournus has been an important religious center from a very early time. The abbey church is probably the oldest Roman style church of its kind in existence, and the only surviving group of monastic buildings dating back to the 12th century which exists in Europe.

We took about an hour to tour the town itself, following the marked walking tour. It’s a bit run down, though with several historic buildings and a pretty river. I’d consider the walk optional – on a sunny day, pleasant; could be a bit grim in the winter.

Onto the food – ***L’Écrin de Yohann Chapuis (one Michelin star) was wonderful. Dining is indoors and fairly intimate (I’d guess they could serve a max of 30 people). The wine list is a bit traditional for my taste (though very good), but everything else was perfect – seasonal, well-plated, interesting flavors, good portions. 

Sercy

**Château de Sercy is a striking building – a series of unusual, perhaps even odd, decisions that come together in a rather harmonious way. Dating to the 12th, 15th centuries, the private home sits on a pond, and retains fairly extensive grounds. Open in a very limited way in the summer (don’t expect to go inside), it’s worth a quick stop to walk around and take in the view.