Church of Saint-Hippolyte

The church Saint-Hippolyte de Combertault was built in the 11th century. Its particularity today is to be attached to an old house of the prior of the abbey of Combertault, which became the town hall of the village. It seems to have been remodelled, two parts being very distinct: the chevet seems much older. Inside, the small church of Combertault contains the important vestiges of a former abbey church from the first half of the 11th century as well as the most important Romanesque frescoes of the department.

About this building

The Romanesque church of considerable dimensions originally consisted of a two-bay narthex, a three-bay nave with aisles, a projecting transept and a choir with a central apse between two apse chapels. Only the choir and its apse, the primers of the transept walls and the south wall of the nave remain. The latter, with its masonry half-columns, is now on the cemetery after the reconstruction of the small nave in the 17th century. In the apse one can admire saints and angels between the arcatures, scenes from the life of Saint Ippolit, patron saint of the church, and a diamond decoration. The great Christ in Glory of the cul-de-four has been lost. In the choir bay, the arcatures contain figures of saints, bust angels and geometric decoration.

Key Features

  • Monuments
  • Interior features

Visitors information

  • Parking within 250m

Other nearby buildings

Wikimedia Commons

Collegiate Basilica of Notre-Dame

The collegiate basilica Notre-Dame de Beaune is one of the last great Romanesque churches in Burgundy. Its construction was undertaken in the middle of the 12th century on the Clunisian model and was completed at the beginning of the following century, preserving a remarkable stylistic unity. It is polychrome but carved in fruit wood which has darkened over time. Nevertheless, it is with fervour and devotion that the medieval Beaunois went in procession with the Virgin during the plague epidemics that lasted until the 16th century.

Sauvegarde de l'Art Français
Side view of a 13th century church

Church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois

The church of Saint Germain-L'Auxerrois de Gergy, built at the beginning of the 13th century, is at the crossroads of two styles: the end of the Romanesque period and the beginning of the Gothic style, with a Cistercian inspiration and a limestone vaulted building. The interior includes a nave, an avant-choir and a choir with flat chevet, which are the characteristic elements of Gothic churches. The capitals and ornaments also illustrate this transition between Romanesque and Gothic art.

Wikimedia Commons

Notre-Dame Abbey

Cradle and mother abbey of the Cistercian Order of monks, the buildings were founded in 1098 by Robert de Molesmes, in what was at the time a "desert", the Abbey of Cîteaux, cradle and head of the Cistercian Order, would become, with Cluny, one of the beacons of Christianity.