The holy places of France · Burgundy-Franche-Comté
Berzé-la-Ville The Monks’ Chapel
Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy-Franche-Comté
- Saint
- Saint Hugh of Cluny
- Feast
- April 29
- Getting there
- About twenty minutes by road from Cluny.
- On our way
- Via Romanica
History
Saint Hugh, abbot of Cluny, had a small priory at Berzé-la-Ville, a few miles from his abbey, where he came to rest. Its chapel was painted in the early twelfth century, probably by painters who also worked at Cluny, and the paintings were found under whitewash in 1887.
In the apse, Christ in majesty gives the law to Saint Peter among the apostles, in colors that recall Byzantine art. Nothing else gives as good an idea of how the great church of Cluny looked inside.
Further reading: Romanesque France: Cluny and the Churches of the Pilgrim Roads.
To see and to pray
- The apseChrist in majesty, with the martyrdom of Saint Blaise and that of a deacon on the gridiron, Saint Vincent or Saint Lawrence.
Feast
- April 29, in the Roman MartyrologyFeast of Saint Hugh of Cluny
The saint of this place
- Saint Hugh of ClunySixth abbot of Cluny
On our way
Getting there
About twenty minutes by road from Cluny.
Nearby
- ClunyThe Abbey of Cluny, about 5 miles as the crow flies
- TournusThe Abbey of Saint-Philibert, about 17 miles as the crow flies
- ArsThe Shrine of the Curé of Ars, about 26 miles as the crow flies
- Paray-le-MonialThe Shrine of the Sacred Heart, about 28 miles as the crow flies