![Entrance of Saint Mary Magadalene abbey in Vezelay, France.](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2023-08/iStock-1397165402.jpg?fit=crop&ar=1%3A1&w=1200&auto=format&q=75)
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Founded in the AD 880s on a former Roman and Carolingian site, Vézelay's stunning hilltop basilica was rebuilt between the 11th and 13th centuries. On the…
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Founded in the AD 880s on a former Roman and Carolingian site, Vézelay's stunning hilltop basilica was rebuilt between the 11th and 13th centuries. On the…
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Founded in 1114, Abbaye de Pontigny rises from the lush mustard fields 15km north of Chablis. The spectacular abbatiale (abbey church) is one of the last…
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This ancient abbey with its dramatic flying buttresses began as a basilica above the tomb of St Germain, the 5th-century bishop who made Auxerre an…
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Some 200L of water per second gushes from Fosse Dionne, a natural spring near the centre of Tonnerre that was sacred to the Celts and whose vivid blue…
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In the heart of Auxerre's partly medieval commercial precinct, the golden, spire-topped Tour de l'Horloge was built in 1483 as part of the city's…
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At this unique medieval building site, a team of skilled artisans, aided by archaeologists, has been diligently working since 1997 to build a fortified…
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The Italian Renaissance makes a cameo appearance at this imposing château, built in the 1540s by celebrated Italian architect Serlio. The richly painted…
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Le Château de Bazoches sits magnificently on a hillside with views to Vézelay, 12km to the north. Built in the 13th century and visited by royalty…
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This vast Gothic cathedral and its stately 68m-high bell tower dominate Auxerre's skyline. The choir, ambulatory and some of the vivid stained-glass…
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Dominating the northern edge of the tranquil riverside village of Tanlay, the elegant French Renaissance-style Château de Tanlay is surrounded by a wide…
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This fantastic museum in the exquisite townhouse of Nobel Prize–winning pacifist writer Romain Rolland (1866–1944) holds the collection of Christian…
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Tonnerre's newest attraction is this house-museum, once home to the colourful Chevalier d'Éon, a gender-bending 18th-century diplomat and spy. The…
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Eight centuries ago, masses of pilgrims flocked here thanks to a piece of the skull of St Lazarus, believed to provide protection from leprosy. The early…
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The elegant 13th-century Château de Ratilly sits in verdant countryside near Treigny. Interior rooms display a collection of pottery by the Pierlot family…
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The only château in France built on a pentagonal plan, and buttressed by five towers, the Renaissance-era Château de Maulnes, 24km east of Tonnerre, is a…
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Located along the D958, 5km southeast of Vézelay, these ancient saltwater springs served as a salt production site in Neolithic times, then later a Celtic…
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Colette, author of La Maison de Claudine and Gigi, lived till the age of 18 in the tiny town of St-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, 40km southwest of Auxerre. The…
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This Romanesque chapel on the hillside below Vézelay dates back to the 12th century, when Bernard de Clairvaux gave a sermon on this spot to launch the…
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Up near the top of town, the former home of Algerian-born writer Jules Roy (1907–2000) is an enchanting spot with fine views of the basilica. Walk around…
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For a free tour of this lovingly restored 16th-century synagogue, just knock on the door during regular opening hours.
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This solid, 15th-century clock tower spans the old city's main thoroughfare.
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This charity hospital, founded in 1293 by Marguerite de Bourgogne (wife of Charles d’Anjou), is most famous for its vast, barrel-vaulted patients' hall…
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Founded in 1862, this wonderful small museum displays a series of expressionist watercolours by Georges Rouault (1871–1958) and an excellent art-deco…
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The striking late-15th-century Tour des Prisons is the lone remaining tower from the original stone fortifications surrounding Auxerre's medieval Abbaye…
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The 12th- and 13th-century Gothic Église St-Martin, first founded in the 9th century by monks fleeing the Norman attacks on Tours, is two short blocks…
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The 12th-century cellar of Petit Pontigny (viewable from the exterior only) was once used by Pontigny's Cistercian monks to ferment wine.
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Flanked by colourful half-timbered buildings, Auxerre's town hall forms the centrepiece of the medieval centre's most attractive square.
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Marked by Gothic architectural elements, this church between the river and the medieval centre is a prominent Auxerre landmark.
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Presided over by a 12th-century bell tower, this church is a convenient landmark in Auxerre's medieval centre.