Francia SacraA journey of faith
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Via Romanica The Romanesque Way

Domus Dei et porta caeliGenesis 28:17

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Length
Seven days
Group
13 pilgrims at most
Walking
Gentle
Season
April to October
Status
First departures in 2027

The grace we ask on this way

Simplicity of heart, before churches built to teach the faith to all.

  1. Autun
  2. Tournus
  3. Cluny
  4. Berzé-la-Ville
  5. Paray-le-Monial
  6. Souvigny
  7. Orcival
  8. Saint-Nectaire
  9. Clermont-Ferrand

Soon after the year 1000, the monk Raoul Glaber saw the world clothe itself in “a white mantle of churches.” The churches visited on this way, in southern Burgundy and the Auvergne, were built in that age of monks and great pilgrimages.

Romanesque art is recognized by its round arches, its barrel vaults and its thick walls pierced by narrow windows. The dim light is deliberate, to help recollection and set off the candles. Around the choir, the ambulatory let the crowds who came to pray before the relics move freely.

At Autun, the Last Judgment, signed Gislebertus hoc fecit, is carved around Christ in glory, and a capital shows the angel waking the three Magi, asleep under a single blanket. At Berzé-la-Ville, the frescoes of the Monks’ Chapel give an idea of the painted interior of Cluny, where you will see what remains of the largest church in Christendom before Saint Peter’s in Rome. The way also stops at Tournus and Paray-le-Monial, and on the road to the Auvergne, the priory of Souvigny keeps the tombs of two holy abbots of Cluny, Mayeul and Odilo.

In the Auvergne, churches of volcanic stone keep their Virgins in Majesty, seated as a throne for the Child, what the Middle Ages called Sedes Sapientiae, “the Seat of Wisdom.” You will pray before the Virgin of Orcival, venerated since the twelfth century, then at Saint-Nectaire, whose capitals show the life of Christ. Last comes Notre-Dame-du-Port in Clermont, with its Black Madonna.

Daily prayer

Romanesque carving taught people who could not read. The week opens before the Judgment of Autun, comes in the Auvergne to the Virgins in Majesty, where the Child sits on his mother’s knees as on a throne, and ends before the Black Virgin of Notre-Dame-du-Port.

This landBurgundy gave the West the abbey of Cluny, head of a monastic family spread across Europe, and the Auvergne still keeps its Romanesque churches almost as they were built.

Each day

Each day opens with the Gospel passage carved in the churches of the day, and closes with Vespers or Compline.

The rites of this way

  • The blessing of pilgrims in Autun
  • An hour of adoration at Paray-le-Monial
  • The entrustment of the pilgrims to Our Lady at Notre-Dame-du-Port

Before you leave

Read the second chapter of Saint Matthew, the visit of the Magi, and the twenty-fifth, the Last Judgment: you will find both in stone at Autun.

The fruit of the way

A simpler prayer, before a candle or a carved Virgin and Child.

Who it is forLovers of the Middle Ages, and those who pray most easily in small, dim churches.

Day by day

Seven days from southern Burgundy to the volcanoes of the Auvergne.

  1. Day I

    IudiciumChrist who will come in glory

    Paris to Autun

    The high-speed train to Le Creusot, then the cathedral of Saint-Lazare and the tympanum of Gislebertus

    Vespers in Saint-Lazare, after the tympanum

    Night in Autun
  2. Day II

    StellaThe angel who wakes the Magi

    Autun and Tournus

    The capitals of Saint-Lazare seen close, then the abbey of Saint-Philibert at Tournus

    Mass at Saint-Lazare, then Compline prayed together at Tournus

    Night in Tournus
  3. Day III

    PaxThe peace of the monks of Cluny

    Cluny and Berzé-la-Ville

    What remains of the great abbey of Cluny, then the frescoes of the Monks’ Chapel

    Midday prayer, said quietly before the frescoes of the Monks’ Chapel

    Night in Cluny
  4. Day IV

    CorThe Heart that has so loved

    Paray-le-Monial

    The basilica, modeled on Cluny, and the Chapel of the Apparitions

    Mass in the Chapel of the Apparitions, and an hour of adoration

    Night in Paray-le-Monial
  5. Day V

    Sedes SapientiaeThe Seat of Wisdom

    Paray-le-Monial to Orcival

    The priory of Souvigny, where Saint Mayeul and Saint Odilo, abbots of Cluny, are buried, then the road to the Auvergne and the Virgin in Majesty of Orcival

    Vespers before the Virgin of Orcival

    Night among the volcanoes
  6. Day VI

    Lapides viviLiving stones

    Saint-Nectaire

    The capitals of Saint-Nectaire, carved with the life of Christ, and a day in the volcano country

    Mass at Saint-Nectaire, among its capitals

    Night in Clermont-Ferrand
  7. Day VII

    MaterThe Black Madonna of the Port

    Clermont-Ferrand to Paris

    Notre-Dame-du-Port and its Black Madonna, then the train to Paris or, as an option, the direct flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle

    The entrustment to Our Lady, then the farewell Mass at Notre-Dame-du-Port

    Last day

Masses, private openings and some visits are requested for each group and remain subject to the consent of rectors, curators and communities.

First departures in 2027. Tell us the season you prefer, and we will propose departure dates once reservations open.

The holy places of this way: Autun, Tournus, Cluny, Berzé-la-Ville, Paray-le-Monial, Souvigny, Orcival, Saint-Nectaire, Clermont-Ferrand.

Further reading: Paray-le-Monial: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Sacred Heart; Black Madonnas of France: A Pilgrim’s Guide; Romanesque France: Cluny and the Churches of the Pilgrim Roads; Sacred Heart in France: Paray-le-Monial to Montmartre.

The saints of this way: Saints Mayeul and Odilo, Saint Hugh of Cluny, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.

Sources

  1. ArtWay, Gislebertus: An Angel Appears to the Three Kings in a Dream (capital of Saint-Lazare, Autun)
  2. Smarthistory, The largest church in Christendom: Cluny III
  3. Ministère de la Culture, Chapelle des moines à Berzé-la-Ville
  4. The Connexion, Two saints buried in one tomb still draws pilgrims to French priory (Souvigny)
  5. Ministère de la Culture, POP (Palissy): Vierge en majesté, Orcival
  6. Clermont Auvergne Volcans (tourist office), Notre-Dame-du-Port visitor booklet (PDF)

This way can also be made at a gentle pace, with two or three days in Paris before or after.

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