Abbaye de Cluny

Tuesday, May 22nd, was our visit to the Abby in near-by Cluny. I knew where the tour began, but Carol wanted to follow the first sign we came to. Since I knew it was a delightful park, I didn't argue and we climbed the stone steps up the hill.

In the field beside the steps was an outdoor theatre with grass terraces for seating. 

Eventually we reversed course, passed this again, and continued on our way.

During our tour of the abbey there were several simplified models illustrating what exists today as compared to what once existed.

There was only this one model (in the picture) that had a lot of detail. The central building and towers that are yellow and orange no longer exist.

Look carefully and you will see 2 gray colored towers; these still stand. The larger one houses the bells.

I took a picture of these two towers when, later on, we climbed what is known as the Tour Frommage, or cheese tower.

The Cluny Benedictine Abbey was begun in 911 and completed in 1130.

It was the largest and most influential church throughout the Middle Ages until the construction of St Peter's Basilica in Rome during the 16th century.

From what little is left, it had to be a glorious structure.

 There are a couple of towers near the edge of town that were once part of the defensive wall that was built around Cluny to protect the abbey and its cathedral.

The abbot's gardens are now the town park. Another building is the palace named for a pope who was expelled from Rome and fled to Cluny. It is now part of a school. There are two other palaces...one used as the town hall and the other as a museum.

All this and more still stands, but the cathedral was destroyed after the French Revolution... I suspect that the people of that time recognized how the church had used fear to control the population, allowing some families to become super wealthy while most were barely able to survive...

That use of fear is employed by some politicians and governments for the same ends today.

Off of what migh have been a chapel is a small room with a fireplace and this window.


We walked by this archway to reach the tourist office which is housed at the base of the Tour Frommage. 

There were 140 steps to reach the top of the cheese tower.

There's a reality screen that swivels so you can compare it to what you are actually seeing. The cathedral as it once was is on the reality screen. It isn't actually in front of you, but the screen allows you to truly picture what is missing!

The netting isn't to prevent people from jumping...

 The netting is to keep the pigeons and any other birds from turning the tower into a bird bathroom. We walk along the street pictured below to reach the square where the outdoor market is held each Saturday.

Sometimes the nicest things happen to what is left of ruins. There is one section of the remains of broken cathedral walls. Growing all over those remnants are nature's gardens of tiny blue- purple flowers.