The Yonne River passes through the pleasantly habitable Burgundy region of France. The Romans came 2000 years ago and built one of their main roads right through the region. Aerial photos clearly show the road bed crossing through fields and vineyards. The French National Highway 6 parallels this ancient route to Lyon. With the Romans came Christianity and the building of churches, schools, and monasteries.
 

This is the small church  located on the town square in Gurgy. I believe the name is St. Adrian from the street name leading to it. It was early evening when the picture was taken. We were headed to dinner at the Riviera Restaurant, also on the square. The light and shadows make this one of my favorite photos.

 

St. Etienne (Stephen) Cathedral sits high above the river in Auxerre.  It is erected on the site of three previous churches. The first built around 400 AD was destroyed by fire around 880. The second built 887-909 also perished in a fire which swept the city in 1023. The third church followed quickly. This, the last Romanesque church on the site, was deliberately torn down by Bishop Guillaume (William) de Segnelay. He had an old fashioned Romanesque Cathedral and wanted one of the High Fashion Gothic Cathedrals like those springing up around the country side.

Bishop William spent much of his own fortune on the construction. Started in 1215 the choir and transepts were mostly finished by 1234. The Glass windows were installed during 1234 to 1250. The rest of the church proceeded slowly for the next 300 years. Construction finally stopped in its current state in 1567 when the protestants sacked the city.

Can you imagine how cold and miserable services must have been for those first 300 years?
 

The Abby St. Germaine is the second defining church on the Auxerre landscape. Germaine (b. 378) was a home town boy who made bishop of Auxerre (418-448).  During his episcopate he built a small oratory where the abby stands. He was buried there after his death. Between 493 and 545 Queen Clothilde built a bigger church, the basilica St. Germaine, and a small Benedictine monastery was established to tend the place.

The Romanesque oratory, built on the site (841 - 859),  houses the crypts below the current Abby Church.

The Gothic structure we see today was begun at the end of the thirteenth century. The construction workers had gotten to a stopping point on St. Etienne, see cathedral above, and found work on the abby.

The abby is smaller than the cathedral, and it was never completed. Note the large space between the abby, on the right, and the tower to the left. The nave of the abby church would have filled this space if the abby had been completed.
 

This is the sanctuary of the abby with five tall stained glass windows. (single story) They draw your attention upward to the heavens in a dramatic sweep. It is interesting that these windows are much taller than the windows in the cathedral.  The much larger cathedral has two levels of windows. (two story) There are windows around the top level and a second set of windows at the ground floor level. To get a bigger church two stories are required.

This is the church of St. Adrian in Mailly-le-Chateau.  It is small sized Gothic church built in the 13th century. It is no where near as ornate as the Auxerre cathedral or the abby.  I does have some gargoyles on the belfry. Again I lucked out with good sun angle for the photo.

It was quite a hike-and-bike trip from the river below to the town. The scenery section covers our trip up and the view of the valley below.