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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Pierre d'Uchizy, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire, finds its origins in a royal donation of 878: King Louis le Bègue then offered the village and its church dedicated to Saint Peter at the Abbey of Tournus. The present building, built by the monks of Turnus in the late 11th century under the reign of Philip I, illustrates Burgundy Romanesque architecture with its three naves, its salient transept and its apses in the hemicycle. Its bell tower, modified in the 16th century to serve as a watchtower, still bears traces of local conflicts, including the wars of Religion.

Ranked a historic monument in 1913 at the initiative of the Macon Academy, the church was reported as one of the 12 priority buildings to protect in the district. Its interior, completely restored in 2011-2012, houses remarkable furniture: a 1629 painting depicting Saint Blaise, a contemporary stained glass window by Paul Duckert (1974), and 19th-century statues. The absence of a western facade, masked by the former priory transformed into a town hall and then a library, gives the building an atypical side entrance through two north and south portals.

Historically linked to the parish of Lugny before 1939, and then to the parish of Tournus, Saint Peter's church remains an active place of worship within the diocese of Autun. In 2020, it integrated the tourist network "Chemins du roman en Mâconnais Sud Bourgogne", highlighting its heritage and cultural role. The bell tower, with two bells (1878 and 1979), dominates a village marked by centuries of religious and community history, from its monastic origin to its successive civil functions (school, town hall).

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