2. Saint-Léger-Vauban to Avallon

The name Saint-Brancher, Branchey, or Branchey, comes from Saint Pancrace, guardian of the shepherds and flocks and patron saint of the village church. The registers of catholicity of the 17th century, carry: baptized or buried in the church of Saint-Pancrace, vulgarly Saint-Brancher. Saint Bonnet de Joux in Charolais, has a hamlet of this name. In the same region, in 1368, the village of La Motte-de-saint-Pancrace, whose patron saint was Saint Brancher, can be seen in the same area. In the vicinity of Mont Saint Bernard was a parish of the same name. Autun, before 1789, had a church of Saint-Brancher. It is because of these homonyms that people used to say Saint-Brancher-lès-Avallon, or in Morvan.
The church dates from 1844, a chapel of the Virgin and another of Saint Anne form the transept: the first is due to the Lords of Sully, several of whom rest in the choir of the church; the second, more modern and better built, dates from 1512. Its founder, Jean Arhin, is buried in front of the altar, under a tomb surrounded by an inscription. One could also see his name and the date of the building on the coloured border of the stained glass window. Father Charles Mathieu rebuilt the sacristy in 1862.
It should be noted that in the High Middle Ages, the island monks had a cult to Saint Pancras, as a teenager he was a herdsman in Rome and not wanting to deny his Christian faith died a martyr. At the beginning of the 7th century Saint Colomban consecrated his third monastic foundation of Fontaine (today Fontaine-lès-Luxeuil) under the name of Saint Pancrace.

Located on Via Columbani, it invites you to know its history.
The Marrault Chapel is a modern building in the Catalan Romanesque style.
It is to Marie-Louise Pasteur, daughter of the great scholar, that the chapel was built in 1921. The Parisian architect Emile Bois is in charge of the design of the whole. It is very simple and inspired by local granite constructions. The semicircular bays of the bell-tower-porch open onto the landscape, the mill pond below and the Morvan. The scientist, Louis Pasteur, made several stays in Marrault. In 1964, it was given to the archbishopric of Sens by Professor Louis Pasteur-Vallery-Radot.
On the hill in the woods to your right is a very beautiful castle, private property that is not visible from the via Columbani.
Source : Petit Patrimoine.com

The ramparts of Avallon were defended by about twenty towers. Five of them have been preserved: the Beurdelaine tower, the Vaudois tower, the Chapter tower, the Escharguet tower and the Gaujard tower. The two-storey, half-round Escharguet tower, built before the 15th century, had a watchtower that no longer exists today. In the Middle Ages, there was a lookout, ordinary surveillance, and a reinforced surveillance, the escarguet. This term indicates that it was a watchtower.
The Escharguet tower was very quickly transformed into a dwelling. Already in 1522, it was given for one percent less per month to the surgeon called by the city to treat the plague victims."
In 1735 or 1755, the town's cowherd lived there, "hence the name tour de la Vachère, which sometimes refers to it."
In 1572, it houses the artillery store. In 1592, the first floor is filled with earth and bundles to prevent possible explosions.
This private property, located at the intersection of rue de la Vachère and rue Basse du Rempart, cannot be visited.
Information from the information panel placed on the tower and from the brochure of the Association des Amis du Vieil Avallon: "Les Fortifications d'Avallon".

Of ancient origin, it was the chief town of a subdivision of the bishopric of Autun. Count Gerard or Girard would have wanted its creation. As was customary, the church was located within the castle walls to prevent any coup de force. Of this primitive 5th century church, placed under the name of Notre-Dame, only a small crypt remains, found in 1861 under the choir.
Shortly after the year 1000, it received a relic of Saint Lazarus from Henry the Great, Duke of Burgundy. It kept the name "Notre-Dame" until 1146, before taking the name "Saint-Lazare" (there was talk of Saint-Ladre in the 16th century). The collegiate church was then crowded with pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, attracted by the relic of Saint Lazarus.
In 1080, the building was rebuilt and its plan is reminiscent of the old basilicas. "The quarter-spherical vaulted choir, the semicircular arcades, the two semi-circular chapels and part of the side aisles date from this period. It was Pope Paschal II himself who came to consecrate the new church in 1106.
In the 12th century, the abbey of Cluny, on which the church of Avallon depended, had a very beautiful facade built, of which only two portals remain.