The Cluny abbeyThe Cluny abbeyGuide of the Saône-et-LoireGuide of the Saône-et-LoireTravel Guide > France > Burgundy > Saône-et-Loire > The Cluny abbey
      
Built in 910, the Cluny abbey used to be the most powerful Benedictine abbey of the West in the Middle Ages. Its abbey church, formerly 187 metres in length and 30 metres in height below the vault, used to be the vastest church of Christendom until the construction of the San-Paolo basilica in Rome. Despite the numerous devastations, especially during the religious wars and at the beginning of the 19th century, the Cluny abbey has kept remains illustrating its prestigious religious past: the Eau Bénite bell tower and the Clock tower surmounting the south part of the big transept of the abbey church, the Jean de Bourbon chapel, the conventual buildings, the cloister and the old Farinier, which is now home to carved chapiters resulting from the choir of the church. The Art and Archaeology museum, installed in the Jean de Bourbon abbatial palace, exhibits a remarkable collection of medieval sculptures coming from the abbey and the monastic village. The music lovers will not miss the classical music festival, Les Grandes Heures de Cluny, which takes place every year in July and August. | LOCALISATION IN SAÔNE-ET-LOIRE | | | |
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