Mâcon
Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
«Stilling the course of the Saone River to suspend time” is what is evoked by this view of Mâcon. The water’s milky aspect makes it look like a frozen lake, while the cloud’s blue shades have a surrealist feel. In this suspended journey, inspired by Macon’s native Alphonse de Lamartine, the town is visited at leisure.
© Gaël Fontany
Between architecture, literature, gastronomy, and history, the city of Macon on the Saone River is brimming with historical treasures.From the shores of the Ain, a harmonious landscape of coloured houses capped with round shingles appears, framed to the left with the towers of the former Roman cathedral of Vieux-Saint-Vincent, and to the right, by Saint-Laurent Bridge. Stepping onto town centre streets is an opportunity to discover a rich and fertile community with a Mediterranean atmosphere. In Macon, preserving and revealing the “Vieux Saint-Vincent” is part of a future vast rehabilitation and restoration project for the town centre. Partially demolished in 1798, the cathedral has only retained two towers, a narthex, and a handsome tympanum embellished by rare 11th century iconography. It is easy to imagine what it looked like thanks to the model and exposed plans. Going forward, this majestic restoration will make the tower tops accessible, allowing visitors to rediscover exceptional vistas across the town and the beauty of Macon landscapes. Here, heritage is reinventing itself, contributing to the attractiveness of the city, which has become a special tourist destination in Burgundy.