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Origin and history

The Saint-Martin church of Blanot, located in the department of Saône-et-Loire, is a Romanesque building of the 11th and 12th centuries, integrated with the heritage of the "Chemins du roman en Mâconnais Sud Bourgogne". It has been listed as a historic monument since 1929, while its 16th century priory, surrounded by fortified buildings, has been listed since 1925. The church, covered with lauzes, features a Romanesque bedside decorated with a frieze of saw teeth and an 18th century square bell tower. Its furniture, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, includes a Louis XV altar and statues of Saint Martin and Notre-Dame.

The Priory, founded in 927 by Leotbald de Brancion and given to the Abbey of Cluny, was built between the 12th and 16th centuries. The buildings, fortified between the 13th and 16th centuries, bear witness to the conflicts of the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. There are still fragments of Gothic paintings (XIII-XIV centuries), graffiti evoking winter 1572, and traces of a fire of 1594. The priory housed the lay managers of the Clunisian estate, including Duran de Blanot, father of the coroner Jean de Blanot.

The church, still a place of Catholic worship, belongs to the parish of Saint-Augustin-en-Nord-Clunisois. Among its remarkable elements, the "stone of the Companion", discovered in 1960, commemorates a worker who died accidentally during his construction. This stone, engraved with a bust and tools, perpetuates a local oral tradition. The ensemble, protected from 1912 thanks to the Académie de Mâcon, illustrates the importance of the Romanesque heritage in Burgundy.

The church's architecture combines Romanesque elements (half-circular apse, geminied bays) and later additions, such as the bell tower cover (XVIII century). The furniture, including a hexagonal pulpit and paintings, reflects the stylistic evolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The priory, on the other hand, retained traces of changes related to conflicts, such as the burned beams of 1594.

In 2020, the church joined the "Chemins du roman en Mâconnais Sud Bourgogne", a network of 127 sites valuing local Romanesque heritage. This initiative is accompanied by a dedicated signage, strengthening its tourist and cultural attractiveness. The site remains a living testimony of Clunisian history and medieval religious architecture in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

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