11. Nevers to La Charité-sur-Loire

The beginnings of this abbey of Notre-Dame in Nevers remained for a long time in the shadow of the Babolene monk, trained at the abbey of Luxeuil in the 7th century. The springs are incomplete and archaeology will perhaps clarify the link with Luxembourg monasticism.

Read the report of the 2004 archaeological excavations carried out by the Centre d'Étude Médiéval d'Auxerre
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Today, in the rue Saint-Genest, there are still remains of the monastic buildings transformed into a retirement home.

More about: Wikipedia

If you have made the detour to rue Saint-Genest, we recommend that you walk a few dozen metres north of the abbey to take rue de la Porte du Croux, and admire the remains of the medieval ramparts that house the Archaeology Museum.

More about: City of Nevers

Stroll through the old streets of Nevers with half-timbered houses

In 1464 in Nevers, Jean de Clamecy, son of Philippe de Bourgogne, inherited the county of Nivernais. He then undertook the construction of a "new hostel" near the old 13th century castle, which has now disappeared. If the building was completed when he died in 1491, the facade that already evokes the Renaissance would be later. The Cleves, his successors, elevated to the rank of dukes and peers of the kingdom in 1538, may have wished to complete the dressing of the castle by offering it an ornament in keeping with the taste of the day and the measure of their rank.

Louis de Gonzague, Duke from 1565 to 1595, continued to beautify it. It adorns the roofs of the south facade with elegant Renaissance and Louis de Gonzague dormers and high chimneys. In 1609, his son Charles I of Gonzaga decided to give the castle an esplanade by building a public square, and the Ducal Palace, symbol of seigneurial power in the capital of the Nivernais, was located on the hill that concentrated the city's various political and religious powers.

To know more: Nevers website

The church of Parigny-les-Vaux is listed, as is one of its stained glass windows. There is also a crypt but access is blocked.
The oldest part to the south dates from the 10th century, the second part from the 11th century.
Inside, in addition to the very beautiful 16th century stained glass window, you can admire beautiful capitals and a 17th century polychrome oak Virgin.

The history of Château de Mimont in Parigny-les-Vaux begins with Count Paul de Lavenne de Choulot, a famous 19th century landscape gardener who lived at Château de Mimont. He is buried in the village cemetery.

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Built in the 19th century from 1867 to 1870, the Saint-Étienne de Chaulgnes church was built on the site of the old 12th century church, which was demolished due to its age.
Today, the building is undergoing the vicissitudes of time and its general condition requires major work. The municipality, anxious to preserve and enhance its heritage, undertook emergency work in May 2002 on the stone facings and the waterproofing of the church.

To know more: web croqueur
http://www.web-croqueur.fr/interieur-eglise-de-chaulgnes/

Champvoux, a small village near La Charité, has a partially ruined Romanesque church. It is the memory of a former Cluniac priory founded in the 11th century and dependent on Souvigny in Allier. Only the transept and the choir are still standing, while the nave, destroyed during the Wars of Religion, retains only its lateral walls. The building probably dates from the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. The bell tower that covers the building was built in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the church was restored.

More about: Romanesque Burgundy

The construction of the monastery of La Charité-sur-Loire began in 1052 under the prior, Dom Gérard de Cluny, on land given to him by William I, Count of Nevers. However, there had already been one or more pre-existing buildings, revealed by archaeological research in St. Croix Square (in front of the church) in 2015. A monastery named Seyr was reportedly built on this site around the year 700; it was destroyed during the Viking raids of the 9th century.

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The remains of the former Saint-Laurent church of La Charité-sur-Loire, in the Benedictine garden, were discovered in 1975. As in Cluny or Charlieu, it was the secondary church of the monastery that communicated with the chapter house. Dating back to the middle of the 11th century and then part of the first monastery, it was a monastic building dedicated to the liturgy of the deceased. The church was dedicated to St. Lawrence and all the saints and was located in the monks' cemetery. Destroyed by the fire of 1559, it was demolished in the 17th century. The foundations of the church were excavated and researched from 1975 to 1995. From the wide single nave, the bases of the walls and two side gates can be identified. The transept probably had Berry passages. The remains of the bedside, under a canopy, consist of the bases of three apses with decorated column bases and remains of bays, frescos and buttresses. Adjacent to the church was a funeral chapel and service buildings to the east and a monumental 13th century gallery to the south of the nave.

Find out more about Roman Burgundy

Conclusions of the archaeological excavations. Newsletter of the Centre d'études médiévales d'Auxerre