In Chissey-Lès-Mâcon, Romanesque church art, crafts and the history of swimming come together. Wall paintings from two centuries, a museum with an unusual thematic specialisation and high-warp weaving courses give a trip a range of cultural highlights. A route through villages and hamlets, together with the town’s inclusion in a Natura 2000 site, adds to the picture of the area.

Romanesque churches and their details

The Église Notre-Dame in the hamlet of Lys is a former parish church built entirely in the Romanesque style. Its distinctive features include wall paintings from the late 13th century and the 17th century. Its tall gable-roofed bell tower also shapes the description of the church. The paintings from different periods offer a tangible glimpse of its interior, without their origins being attributable to just one period.

The Église Saint-Pierre is also Romanesque. Its nave and bell tower date from the early 12th century. The tall tower has three storeys with paired arched windows and Lombard bands; above them is a tall stone pyramidal roof. These individual features make the architecture easy to understand: the windows, bands and roof structure the tower in different ways. The church also houses two baptismal fonts dating from the 10th century. They come from the former Romanesque church in the hamlet of Prayes, which was destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century.

The capitals at Saint-Pierre also depict a range of motifs: the Nativity, with the Annunciation and the Annunciation to the Shepherds; scenes from the life of King David, including his fight against Goliath; demonic masks; winged dragons; and foliage. The motifs thus range from biblical scenes to figures and ornamental forms.

The Église de Lys has been protected as a historic monument since 19 January 1938. Together with the churches in Lys and Saint-Pierre, this offers another way to explore local architectural and cultural history.

Swimming history and weaving

The Musée de la Natation is located in the priory of the Château de Lys in Chissey-Lès-Mâcon. It traces the history of bathing in the sea, rivers and swimming pools, as well as the development of competitive swimming. Exhibits include photographs of champions, posters for sporting events, medals, paintings and postcards. A women’s bathing suit from 1860 provides a specific historical reference point in the collection. Models of historic bathing facilities from the 19th century and of France’s first Parisian swimming pool, built in 1884, complete the exhibition. If the museum is part of your travel plans, check visiting arrangements before you arrive.

In the hamlet of Lys, Atelier de la Lisse offers six-day courses in high-warp weaving and woven tapestry. The studio is open to the public year-round; as customer visits or exhibitions may affect opening, it is recommended that you call ahead. The course length is a separate planning consideration: a course like this takes several days and differs from a brief visit to an attraction.

Near the washhouse and around the central square in Lys, there are craftspeople, including a tapestry weaver, a bronze worker, a shoemaker and a leatherworker. Visitors can enter the workshops and see their skills in action. Access may vary from one craftsperson to another, so arrange your visit with the individual business in advance. This makes it possible to plan a visit to the workshops as part of your trip without assuming that the same conditions apply to every studio.

Route and landscape

Loop 10, “Boucle des églises romanes”, is a rural circular route through villages and hamlets with Romanesque churches. In the hamlet of Lys, the Romanesque church is an inviting place to stop. The route’s theme thus connects with the church architecture that is also important in the town itself. Chissey-Lès-Mâcon is also one of the municipalities included in the Natura 2000 site “Bocage, forêts et milieux humides du bassin de la Grosne et du Clunisois”. This protected-area designation adds a landscape dimension to the cultural points of interest without limiting a visit to a single theme.

Discover more destinations: Saint-Maurice-De-Satonnay, Saint-Rémy, Tancon, Volesvres, Huilly-Sur-Seille, Sornay, Saint-Martin-Du-Tartre, Saint-Julien-De-Civry.

For the overview of the wider region: Saône-Et-Loire.