Semur-en-Brionnais, the medieval town the Brionnais keeps to itself

Semur-en-Brionnais is no reconstructed film set: it's a real village of pale golden stone, perched on a rise in the Brionnais countryside, that has kept the silhouette of a small medieval capital without ever having had the numbers to match. At the top, the remains of the Château Saint-Hugues, with its 22-metre rectangular tower dating from the 10th century, look out over rolling bocage farmland — the Brionnais here is, in fact, the most forested part of the whole region. Just below, the 12th-century Collégiale Saint-Hilaire shows off an octagonal bell tower with clear Cluniac influence. That's no accident: the village was the birthplace of Hugh of Semur, who became the sixth abbot of Cluny in the 11th century, one of the most powerful figures of his age.

The Priory of Saint-Hugues, built in the 18th century, today houses a religious community rather than a stream of visitors, and the chapel of Saint-Martin-la-Vallée preserves 15th-century frescoes that few people come looking for. Semur-en-Brionnais has just over 600 residents: people come here for the Romanesque architecture and the quiet of the bocage, not for a checklist of monuments.

How to get there

There's no train station in the village itself. The nearest are Paray-le-Monial, about 27 km away, and La Clayette, roughly 20 km away, both served by regional lines. Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport, 137 km away, is the reference point for international flights. By car, the village is easily reached from Roanne (35 km) via the departmental roads that cross the Brionnais bocage.