Our Life in Burgundy

Restored medieval house

Today started like any other Saturday morning. We went to Cluny to buy carrots for the horse and to say hello to the many friends and neighbours who we are sure to meet in Cluny market.

There is an exhibition on at the Ecuries St Hughes. It is ‘Des Pierres et des Hommes’ showing the architecture of Cluny between the 11^th  and the 14^th centuries. As it runs until September we thought we’d better visit it now as we are very good at thinking about going to things and then suddenly finding they have been and gone.

A similar medieval house that has been altered

We were shown round by the guide who usually takes visitors around Cluny in his little buggy, grounded today as the centre of  Cluny was closed for market day.  He showed us drawings of medieval houses before they were destroyed. There are reconstructions of interiors and windows, and pieces of intricately carved stone decoration that have been recovered, often hidden behind newer façades.

When the Abbey was built in the 11^th century the town of Cluny sprang up around it to house all the workers who of course used their masonry and carpentry skills to build and decorate their own houses. The same carvings are to be seen on houses as in the Abbey. There was a particular style of house in Cluny. On the ground floor was a large arched doorway which led into a workshop and storage space for goods which were sold on the pavement outside. The living room was upstairs, accessed by a staircase from the small entrance to the side. People in those days thought it healthy to have plenty of air so the ceilings were very high.

The most distinctive feature is the clerestories or small arched windows in the upper floor. These had seats at each side and the idea was to sit and talk to your spouse dressed in your finery so that people passing on the street would look up and admire you and your wealth. The more clerestories the better.

Cluny remained pretty well in its original medieval state until the French Revolution when the Abbey was plundered for its stone. There was a frenzy of rebuilding and change. Medieval facades were regarded as ugly and the windows were knocked out and replaced by bigger, more modern ones. The intricate decoration was chiselled off  and the stone lintels broken. Some stones were used again but with just the plain side showing.

The destruction of medieval Cluny continued until quite recently. Strict planning laws came into force only about thirty years ago and by then it was too late to save many old houses.

Fredéric Sartiaux, author of 'L'abbaye de Cluny'

Anyway, to continue, we saw some photos of houses that have been restored in the nearby streets of rue de la République and rue d’Avril.  At the top of rue de la République by the well is the house shown in the top photograph. We were taking photos when the owner of an adjacent house arrived. When we explained we had just seen the exhibition he invited us into his house which was also built in the 11^th century but had been modernised (2nd photo). His plan is to slowly convert it back to how it was originally. When we looked closely we could still see evidence of the clerestories and the original doorways.

With  our heads full of all this history, we returned via rue Lamartine and outside the bookshop was Fredéric Sartiaux, the author of a newly published book about Cluny Abbey. It contains beautiful photos of the Abbey and illustrations of the stonework we had just been studying.  M. Sartiaux is a most interesting fellow and I will treasure the copy he signed for us.