A distinctive feature of Tazilly is its light-granite menhir; the village also has a Romanesque church, the Chapelle de Barnaud, and a landscape shaped by hedgerows, meadows, forests and watercourses. When planning your trip, it is worth considering the different historical periods: today’s D973 is useful for orientation; the route of the Gallo-Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy roughly follows it. This makes it possible to discover Tazilly through specific details of its landscape and cultural heritage.
Landscape in the Bas Morvan Sud Ouest
The Bas Morvan Sud Ouest ZNIEFF area includes Tazilly. Its landscape is characterised by hedgerows, meadows, forests, ponds and a dense network of watercourses. Forests, hedgerow meadows, ponds, marshes and flowing waters, together with their associated flora and fauna, are also of regional importance. The natural environment therefore encompasses open spaces as well as wooded and water-based habitats.
Roads and historical connections
From Luzy, you can reach Tazilly via the D973 towards Bourbon-Lancy–Moulins, then take the D30. Tazilly is 6.5 km from Luzy. The Gallo-Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy ran through the area; its route roughly follows today’s D973. These road connections link practical orientation with the area’s earlier history without treating the historic and present-day routes as identical.
The Tazilly Menhir
The Tazilly menhir was re-erected beside the D973 in 1986 to make it more visible. You can see it after the D30 junction, on the way to the hamlet of Chigy. It is a monolith of light granite—that is, a single block of stone—and measures 4.5 m in length and 1.3 m in width. On one flat side, traces of preliminary shaping can be seen at about two-thirds of its height. The measurements give an idea of its proportions, while the traces of working provide further details about how the stone was shaped.
Chapelle de Barnaud
The Chapelle de Barnaud remained open for worship until the French Revolution. It stands on the site of a former fortified house, built on a motte beside the Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy; extensive remains of the walls are still visible. A motte is a mound on which a fortification was built. The chapel’s religious use and the history of the former fortified house can thus be understood as distinct historical connections at this site.
The Église de Tazilly
The Église de Tazilly is considered a Romanesque church with the plan of a Latin cross. The nave is unvaulted; there are also transept chapels and a barrel-vaulted choir with an apse. Nave, transept chapels and choir refer to different parts of the building; the description of the vault applies to the choir. One of the church’s bells dates from 1733. Alongside the floor plan, this provides a dated individual feature, with the year referring to the bell.
Discover more destinations: Varennes-Vauzelles, Pouilly-Sur-Loire, Saint-Benin-D'azy, Marzy, Menestreau, Dun-Sur-Grandry, Fléty, Montigny-Aux-Amognes
Go to the overview of the wider travel region: Nièvre.
