Mont-Beuvray and Bibracte
France > Burgundy > Morvan > Mont-Beuvray and Bibracte
The base for the climb up Mont-Beuvray to the 2000-year-old site of the Gallic capital of Bibracte is ST-LÉGER-SOUS-BEUVRAY, about 26km southwest of Autun and reached along the N81 and D61 through typical Morvan countryside of wooded hills and scattered farms, coarse marshy pastures and brown streams. There's a morning and an afternoon bus from Autun to St-Léger. Should you need to spend the night, St-Léger has a hostel (tel 03.85.82.55.46) and campsite (May–Oct).From St-Léger, it's the best part of a two-hour walk, or 8km by road, to BIBRACTE on top of the hill, at an altitude of 800m. If you want to recapture a Celtic mood, it's worth doing it on foot along the path winding up through woods of conifer and beech. The settlement of Bibracte, the lines of which you can still follow through the trees, was inhabited from 5000 BC. In 52 BC it was the scene of an assembly of all the Gallic tribes, which resulted in the election of Vercingétorix as their commander-in-chief, in one last desperate attempt to fight off Roman imperialism. Although it is two millennia since Bibracte was abandoned – probably on Roman orders – vague memories of its significance were preserved in the folk tales of the Morvan and a fair was held on the summit every May until the beginning of World War I. Close to the fortified earthwork that surrounds the site, great ceremonial stones like the Pierre de la Wivre are still standing. The Bibracte Musée de la Civilisation Celtique (daily except Tues: July & Aug 10am–7pm; Sept–June 10am–6pm; €5.50 museum entry, €8 with guided tour of archeological site; tel 03.85.86.52.35 for bookings) is a fascinating state-of-the-art museum displaying the many Celtic coins, jugs, platters and pieces of statues unearthed from the neighbouring archeological site.
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