Burgundy through the ages
Monks, dukes and master buiders
A landscape of history
Abbeys, castles and historic places
Southern Burgundy is unusually rich in historic places. Alongside the vineyards and countryside, there are great abbeys, Romanesque churches, medieval castles, old towns and fortified villages — some famous, others quieter, but all part of the region’s character.
Drive through the area and the past is rarely far from view: old stone villages, church towers, wash houses, fortified gateways and châteaux appearing between fields and woodland. This page brings together a selection of places we think are especially worth visiting, from Cluny and Tournus to Cormatin, Brancion, Couches and the Hospices de Beaune.
GREAT ABBEYS & SACRED PLACES
Monastic power and centuries of faith
The abbeys of southern Burgundy were not quiet backwaters. They were centres of worship, learning, influence and power, shaping the religious and cultural life across medieval Europe.
Cluny and Tournus offer two very different encounters with that history: one vast, partly vanished and still extraordinary in scale; the other still standing in the heart of its town, one of Burgundy’s great Romanesque churches.
Abbaye de Cluny
Founded in 910, vast in scale and influence
Founded in 910, the Abbey of Cluny became one of the most powerful religious centres in medieval Europe. At its height, it stood at the head of a vast network of monasteries and played a major role in the spiritual, political and cultural life of the Middle Ages.
Its abbey church was once the largest in Christendom — a building on a scale that reflected the influence of the Cluniac order. Much of it was destroyed after the French Revolution, but the surviving remains still give a striking sense of the abbey’s former importance.
Today, Cluny is more than a historic site. The town itself is well worth exploring, with old streets, stone houses, cafés and fragments of monastic history still woven through the centre.
Abbaye Saint-Philibert de Tournus
A 10th-century landmark of Romanesque Burgundy
The Abbey of Saint-Philibert in Tournus is one of the great Romanesque churches of Burgundy. Founded in the 10th century, it has preserved much of its original architecture, from its powerful nave and rounded vaults to the striking stonework that gives the building its very particular character.
For centuries, the abbey played an important role in the religious life of the region, welcoming monks and pilgrims and helping shape the development of Tournus itself. Unlike Cluny, where much of the original abbey has disappeared and the scale is understood through what remains, Saint-Philibert still stands as a complete and imposing presence in the heart of the town.
Tournus is also worth visiting beyond the abbey, with its old streets, cafés, restaurants and relaxed Saturday market. It is one of those places where a short visit can easily become a much longer wander.
DUKES & CASTLES OF BURGUNDY
Fortresses and ducal power
Burgundy’s castles tell a more worldly story than the abbeys. Some were built to defend roads, valleys and villages; others became places of residence, display and influence, shaped by noble families and the power of the Dukes of Burgundy.
Around southern Burgundy and towards Beaune, that variety is easy to see: the painted interiors and formal gardens of Cormatin, the medieval heights of Brancion, the ducal residence of Germolles, the fortress of Couches and the unexpected collections of Savigny-lès-Beaune. Together, they show another side of Burgundy’s past — strategic, ambitious and often full of character.
Château de Cormatin
Early 17th-century interiors, gardens and maze
Château de Cormatin offers a very different kind of Burgundian history. Built in the early 17th century, it is known for its richly decorated interiors, painted ceilings, carved woodwork and extensive gardens.
The château is also worth visiting for its gardens, with formal parterres, water features, clipped hedges, a boxwood labyrinth and long perspectives that bring a more composed, classical rhythm to the visit. After the heavier stone of abbeys and fortresses, Cormatin feels more theatrical — a place of status, taste and display as much as defence.
Château de Brancion
Medieval stronghold, 11th to 14th centuries
Set above the surrounding countryside, Château de Brancion is more fortress than residence: a medieval stronghold of stone walls, towers and open views, with the old village gathered around it.
The site has a powerful sense of place. Its castle, Romanesque church, narrow lanes and hilltop position make Brancion feel less like a single monument and more like a fragment of medieval Burgundy still standing in the landscape.
Château de Germolles
Ducal residence from the 14th century
Château de Germolles offers a direct link to the Dukes of Burgundy. Acquired in the 14th century by Philip the Bold for his wife, Margaret of Flanders, it remains one of the rare surviving residences connected to the Burgundian court.
More understated than many château visits, Germolles rewards a closer look: medieval architecture, painted decoration and details that give a real sense of power, taste and daily life at one of Burgundy’s most important noble residences.
Château de Couches
An 11th-century fortress with later additions
Château de Couches, sometimes known as the Château de Marguerite de Bourgogne, is one of the region’s notable medieval fortresses. Set above the surrounding landscape, it has a more defensive character than Cormatin, with walls, towers and a strong sense of its strategic position.
The château has evolved over many centuries, with medieval elements, later additions and a history linked to the old routes between Burgundy and the wider kingdom of France. Today, it offers a visit that combines fortified architecture, interiors, grounds and views over the Couchois countryside, with a restaurant on site and wine tastings also available.
Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune
14th-century château, extraordinary collections
Château de Savigny-lès-Beaune, a 15th-century castle notable for its Renaissance architecture, brings a more unexpected note to the section. Today it is best known today for its extraordinary collections.
Alongside the château itself, visitors will find displays of aircraft, racing cars, motorbikes, tractors and other vehicles gathered over many years. It is not the most conventional heritage visit in Burgundy, but that is precisely its charm: part château, part museum, part wonderfully eccentric surprise.
The estate vineyards
Charity, wine and prestige
Wine has been part of the Hospices story for centuries. Donations of vineyard land gradually created an important estate, whose wines helped fund the charitable work of the institution.
Today, the Hospices de Beaune domain covers around 60 hectares of vines, spread across more than 120 parcels. Most of the vineyards are classified Premier Cru or Grand Cru, giving the estate a prestige that reaches far beyond Beaune itself.
That legacy continues through the famous Hospices de Beaune wine auction, held each November and followed across the wine world. The Hospices are not only a monument to medieval charity, but also part of Burgundy’s living wine history.
The Hôtel-Dieu
Care and grandeur
At the heart of the Hospices is the Hôtel-Dieu, founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin and Guigone de Salins as a hospital for the poor. Its purpose was charitable, but its architecture was anything but modest: a great hall for the sick, timber galleries, painted beams, a chapel, pharmacy and courtyard arranged with particular care.
That contrast is what makes the place so striking. The Hospices were built to serve the vulnerable, but also to express faith, status and civic pride. The result is one of the most remarkable buildings in Burgundy — practical in purpose, but magnificent in presence.
Les Hospices de Beaune
Medieval charity, Burgundy wine and one remarkable roofline
Highly recommended by Christophe
The Hospices de Beaune is one of Burgundy’s great landmarks, instantly recognisable for its glazed tiled roofs, but it's far more than just a beautiful building. Founded in the 15th century as a charitable hospital for the poor, it became both a place of care and a symbol of Burgundian wealth, power and civic pride.
Today, the Hôtel-Dieu is one of the most visited historic sites in the region. Its courtyards, timber galleries, great hall, pharmacy and painted details give a vivid sense of late-medieval Burgundy — at once practical, charitable and unmistakably grand.
~ A Burgundy icon ~
BEYOND THE LANDMARKS
Towns, medieval villages and everyday heritage
Leave the Château gates and old Burgundy is laid out before you — rolling fields, medieval villages, church towers and winding country roads that seem to have missed the memo about the 21st century.
Beyond the major abbeys, castles and monuments, there are towns, old stone villages and everyday heritage almost everywhere you look: a market square, a Romanesque church, a wash house, an old gateway or a château glimpsed between the trees. Often, it is the smaller details that reward the curious eye.
This is where “just go and explore” really means something. Not because there is a major sight around every bend, but because the villages, roads and small stops give a real sense of Burgundy’s daily life. Follow a road because it looks interesting, stop for a coffee, look around, carry on…
Chapaize
A small village built around the remarkable Romanesque church of Saint-Martin.
Louhans
A historic Bresse town known for its long arcaded street and lively Monday market.
Buxy
A small wine town with medieval streets, a historic centre and its distinctive tower.
Baume-les-Messieurs
A striking Jura village set below limestone cliffs built around a Benedictine abbey.
Mercurey
A Côte Chalonnaise wine village with the Romanesque church of Touches.
Château-Chalon
A dramatic Jura wine village set above the vineyards and closely linked to Vin Jaune.