The abbey of CLUNY is the major tourist destination of the region. The voice of its abbot once made monarchs tremble, as his power in the Christian world was second only to that of the pope. The monastery was founded in 910 in response to the corruption of the existing church, and it took only a couple of vigorous early abbots to build the power of Cluny into a veritable empire. Gradually its spiritual influence declined, and Cluny became a royal gift. Both Richelieu and Mazarin did stints in the monastery as abbot.Now, although the reputation of the place still pulls in the tourist coaches, little remains apart from the very attractive village. The Revolution suppressed the monastery, and Hugues de Semur's vast and influential eleventh-century church, the largest building in Christendom until the construction of St Peter's in Rome, was dismantled in 1810. Now all you can see of the former abbey (daily: May–Aug 9.30am–6.30pm; Sept–April 9.30am–noon & 1.30–5pm; 5.50 combined ticket with museum) is an octagonal belfry, the south transept and, in the impressive granary, the surviving capitals from its immense columns. Access to the belfry leads through the Grand École des Ingénieurs, one of France's elite higher-education institutions, and you can often see the students in their fraternity gowns decorated with cabalistic signs. From the top of the Tour des Fromages (entered through the tourist office) you can reconstruct it in your imagination. The Musée d'Art et d'Archaeologie (same hours and ticket as abbey), in the fifteenth-century palace of the last freely elected abbot, helps to flesh out the picture with reconstructions and fragments of sculpture, while the octagonal Romanesque belfry of the parish church of St-Marcel also recalls the belfries that once adorned the abbey. There are some interesting old houses in rue Mercière/rue Lamartine and, in particular, rue de la République/rue d'Avril; nos. 25 and 6 of the latter are nearly as old as the abbey itself. At the back of the abbey is one of France's national stud farms, Haras National (daily 9am–7pm; free), which can also be visited. The tourist office is beside the Tours des Fromages, at 6 rue Mercière (April–June & Sept 10am–noon & 2.30–7pm; July & Aug daily 10am–7pm; Oct–March 10am–12.30pm & 2.30–5pm; tel 03.85.59.05.34). Bicycles can be rented at the campsite, or at Ludisport, by the platform of the abandoned railway station, on the southeast edge of town. For accommodation, the showy Hôtel de Bourgogne, Place de l'Abbaye (tel 03.85.59.00.58, www.hotel-cluny.com; 70–85; closed Dec & Jan), has an irresistible location in what must have been the north aisle of the church, while Le Potin Gourmand, 4 place du Champ de Foire (tel 03.85.59.02.06, fax 03.85.59.22.58; 40–55; closed Jan & Feb) has seven utterly beguiling, individual rooms arranged around a rustic, gardened courtyard. The best inexpensive choice is the plain but reasonably central Hôtel du Commerce, 8 place du Commerce (tel 03.85.59.03.09, fax 03.85.59.00.87; under 30). There's a municipal hostel, Cluny Séjour, on rue Porte-de-Paris (tel 03.85.59.08.83; closed Dec to mid-Jan), and a municipal campsite, St-Vital (tel 03.85.59.08.34; closed mid-Sept to April), across Pont de la Levée in the direction of Tournus. For meals, there's good country cooking to be had at Le Potin Gourmand (closed Sun evening & Mon; menus 12–26), while the Brasserie du Nord, right in the heart of things on the Place de l'Abbaye, serves simple classics. Alternate spellings:: cluny, cluni, monastery, abbey, abbot, visit, church, cluney, clunee, christ
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