Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Eglise Saint-Pierre

Not far from where we stayed in Burgundy is the town of Tonnerre, a small burg of about five thousand people that dates back to Roman times. Its streets and buildings climb up a steep hillside in the valley of the Armançon River along a historical route between Paris and Dijon. In the ninth century, the church of Saint-Pierre (Saint Peter) was built on a high point above the town. It was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt in the sixteenth century.

The bell tower of the church of Saint-Pierre in Tonnerre. Can you see the pigeon under the right-hand arch?

While it's easy to walk up to the church from the streets of town, cars are sent high up above the church before they can wind their way back down to it. We had the car and the dog, so we drove. Unfortunately, the church was locked up tight and we didn't get to see inside. But we had a nice walk around the outside and took in the views over the town's rooftops.

One of the church's stained glass windows, seen from the outside. The sunlight was shining through the building from the other side.


  1. Can't believe these 19th century stained galss windows are seen from the outside. That's really unusual.

  2. Geeze, two disappointments -- no lunch Chez Mémère, and no inside photos chez Saint-Pierre ;)

  3. Despite being locked out of church... as always, fascinating history and great photos.

  4. We drove around Burgundy in the 1990's with an inadequate guidebook and, of course, no internet. We enjoyed the trip, but many places that looked interesting were closed.

  5. The tower of church is interesting and the bird too. Pigeons are nice birds

  6. It would be lovely to be around things so old and historical.
    Where I live 'old historic' is a reference to the 60s.


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