Summary maps of Romanesque and Byzantine churches

In the past I have published a number of blogs dedicated to a number of interactive maps, all based on various pages of website “Bourgogne Romane”.
Below I have summarized everything. The link to the relevant page of “Bourgogne Romane” is given in the caption of the pictures of the maps.

1. Pages as complete as possible (Burgundy):

1a. Link to map La Côte d’Or (21)

Link to page La Côte d'Or (21)

1b. Link to map La Nièvre (58)

Link to page La Nièvre (58)

1c. Link to map La Sâone-et-Loire (71)

Link to page La Saône-et-Loire (71)

1d. Link to map L'Yonne (89)

Link to page L'Yonne (89)

The maps above also contain links to a modest selection of churches in the departments bordering Burgundy. The links are recognisable as traffic signs for max. speed limits, where the "speed" is the number of that department (03, 69, 42, etc.).

2. Pages with a very restricted choice from available material (no attempt to completeness).

2a. Link to map Romanesque churches in Europe (except in Burgundy)

Link to page L'Europe Romane

2b. Link to map Byzantine churches in Eastern-Europe and the Middle-East

Link to page Byzantine Art

The link to the website of La Tuilerie de Chazelle can be found here.

A church just across the border

Even though the churches in Saône-et-Loire have the highest priority on my list, the interesting churches of course do not stop exactly at the border of our department.

Illiat

Van Boxtel once gave me a list with churches located just across Burgundy’s border, for example some churches in Ain (01), just on the other side (on the left bank) of the Saône.

When we had an appointment to visit the church of Saint-Romain-des-Îles, it was not really much of a detour to pop by Illiat, a church which had been rated by van Boxtel as being worth 3 stars. That turned out to be an excellent guess, and certainly worth while the detour.

Apse - Illiat

The church was open (a pleasant surprise!), and despite of the rather boring exterior the interior was certainly worth its 3 stars. Again van Boxtel’s star rating turned out to be accurate.
After we had had a good look around the church, it was time to drive to Saint-Romain, where a very friendly elderly lady, the sexton, was already waiting for us. She had already opened all doors and lit all lights. This also turned out to be an interesting church once inside.

Saint-Romain-des-Îles

There were some remains of old frescoes in the sacristy, the nave had some arcades with interesting arcades with beautiful capitals, and the apse boasted a rather crude Christ en Gloire, with equally crude biblical figures and scenes painted underneath it in apse and choir. The brochure we received from the sexton did not mention those paintings at all, and to me they looked like they were made by a local not so talented artist in the 20-ies of the last century.
And with the visit of these two churches all Romanesque churches South of Mâcon have been visited and photographed!

Interior - Saint-Romain-des-Îles

More Romanesque churches galore can be found in the immediate vicitiy of La Tuilerie de Chazelle.

The Priest of Ars

The Priest of Ars

As a non-Catholic it always surprised me to see, apart from the usual Christ, Mary and Joseph statues, the statue of a small guy with a rather pointed nose dressed in "modern", i.e. non-biblical clothing in Catholic churches around here. Asking an American Anglican Reverend (!) whether he knew who this could be, he came up with the name of Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney, in England also known as Saint-John Vianney, the patron Saint of all (Catholic) parish priests.
On a lovely day we drove off to Ars-sur-Formans, a village in Ain (01), for us on the other side of the Saône. Very soon we stumbled upon road signs pointing to "Village du Saint-Curé" (village of the Saint-Priest) - the real name of the village was hardly ever displayed on those signs - and it did not take long to find the place. From the Michelin travel guide I had learned that Ars is an important place of pilgrimage, and not only for priests. Each year Ars is visited by half a million worshippers.
The whole village breathes Saint-Curé.

The bell tower of the Basilica

His house is converted into a museum, the old village church has been replaced by and partially incorporated into a new basilica (1862), which houses the remains of the priest (a rather tasteless grotesque building by architect Pierre Bossan who also built the Notre-Dame-de-Fouvière in Lyon), there is a museum with wax effigies of the priest during the various stages of his life, in short, the former parish priest still "lives" in this village. Inside the Basilica one can see the priest's body, and for the heart of the man a separate chapel has been built.
There are, in the bell tower of the "old" church, still six old Romanesque columns and capitals, originating from the cloister of a partially demolished priory church, that of Salles-en-Beaujolais.

Saint-André in Saint-André-de-Bâgé

After all this rather modern church-spotting we decided to visit the very interesting 11th Century Saint-André in Saint-André-de-Bâgé on our way back, still on the same side of the Saône, just opposite Mâcon. The apse of this church boasts an interesting arcade, a number of the columns have elaborately carved capitals, the portal of the church is beatiful as well, in a word, this church turned our visit to Ain into a great succes.

Between Ars and Saint-André we stumbled upon some 12th Century churches, those of Biziat, Saint-Julien-sur-Veyle and Sandrans. Only the church of Saint-Julien-sur-Veyle was open to visitors.

Saint-André in Saint-André-de-Bâgé - lust

A concise overview of Romanesque churches in Ain bordering Saône-et-Loire can be found on this map.

Saint-André-de-Bâgé is only a day trip away from La Tuilerie de Chazelle.