ST. LAZARE COLLEGE

By visiting the collegiate church of Saint-Lazare you will discover one of the jewels of the Avallonnais heritage. Founded in the 8th century, it received in the year 1000 a relic of Saint Lazarus (considered as the healer of the plague that ravaged the country). The church was then enlarged, and its plan recalls that of the ancient basilicas. A century later, in 1106, it was consecrated by the pope and renamed Collégiale Notre-Dame et Saint-Lazare. From this period, the choir vaulted in a quarter sphere, the two semi-circular chapels and a part of the side aisles that you will discover when you enter this very particular church. And for good reason: the height of the pillars - like the floor - follows the slope of the rocky spur on which the building was built. Between the portal and the choir, there is a 3 meter difference in level!

Don't leave without having observed its beautiful façade. Of Burgundian Romanesque style, it was built in the 12th century by the abbey of Cluny on which the church of Avallon depended. From this one remains only two portals. Above the larger one (which is among the great Romanesque portals of Burgundy still preserved, alongside Vézelay and Autun), one can admire the 24 elders of the Apocalypse of Saint John, as well as the signs of the zodiac.

It should also be noted that the history of the collegiate church has not been without drama. In 1589 in particular, when lightning burned the bell tower which collapsed on the roof of the neighboring Maison des Sires. It still bears the traces of this event!