Notre Dame de la Brune

In 1987, as a young Anglican priest, I had three months free between jobs and decided to hitch hike to Jerusalem from England, staying in monasteries along the way.

One day, traveling through France a lift dropped me in the city of Tournus. I hadn’t planned to stop there for any particular reason, but enjoyed poking around the town, and went into the church, which, as I remember was not very promising from the outside.

Inside it was the most beautiful and ancient example of early medieval Romanesque architecture. The church was still and dark and cool in the summer heat, and in the south aisle I came across this most beautiful and serene image of the Incarnation.

Thanks to Roving Medievalist (the only blog I visit every day) I was reminded of that visit which happened twenty years ago. You can see more pictures of the abbey church at Tournus here.