Basilica Of Paray-le-Monial
The church was built in the 12th century by Hugues de Semur, the most important of the abbots of Cluny, on the site of a 10th-century monastery founded by count Lambert of Chalon. It was a small-scale version of the Abbey of Cluny. It was completed in the 14th century, although some sections were added in the 18th century or renovated in the 19th century. As a priory, it was under the authority of Cluny and was a popular pilgrimage site. It is the best conserved example of Cluniac architecture in Burgundy.
Description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Paray-le-Monial%2C_la_basilique%2C_vue_a%C3%A9rienne.jpg/220px-Paray-le-Monial%2C_la_basilique%2C_vue_a%C3%A9rienne.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Paray_le_monial_interieur_01.jpg/220px-Paray_le_monial_interieur_01.jpg)
The church has a rather short nave and two aisles, crossed by a single-nave transept. The choir includes a semicircular apse with an ambulatory, and three radial chapels. The edifice has an overall length of 63.5 meters, including the vestibule and the eastern chapel, and a width of 22.35 m. The nave (which is 22 m tall) and the aisles are covered by ogival barrel vaults, with, internally, the use of different height levels which was typical of Romanesque architecture. It has pre-Gothic pillars, a blind tribune and a clerestory with small windows. The capitals of the columns are generally decorated with vegetable motifs, although some feature depictions of animals or other figures. The choir houses a 14th-century fresco, rediscovered in 1935.
The exterior has a sober appearance, with massive walls. The few decorations include the portal of the transept's left arm, with flower and geometrical motifs. The crossing is surmounted by a tower with an elevation of 56 m; two smaller towers are also at the sides of the main facade.
The complex include other buildings, such as an 18th-century cloister.