Southern Burgundy Romanesque ChurchesSaint-Hippolyte

The hamlet of Saint-Hippolyte in the village of Bonnay is easy to find just look for the ruins of its church of the same name. The church bell tower is still intact and overlooks the Guye Valley and is easy to spot.

Construction of Saint-Hippolyte is believed to have begun sometime during the 'building boom' of the early 12th century. It is also thought that Saint-Hippolyte started to fall into ruin sometime during the 15th century. Saint-Hippolyte was part of the network of churches associated with the Abbey of Cluny and must have been financed in part by the monks of Cluny.

Saint-Hippolyte was a Romanesque church with three naves, round chevet and very large bell tower. The large bell tower, as wide as was the church is very rare for a Romanesque church of this period. It is the only one within tens of miles with this characteristic. Unfortunately the only good close up view of Saint-Hippolyte is from the back as private property and a small woods border the front.

Saint-Hippolyte is located off the D 14 road about 20 miles from Tournus and the A6 Autoroute.

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