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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Laives, located in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is built on a hill occupied since the Neolithic (c. 700 BC). This site successively housed a Druidic temple, a sanctuary dedicated to Mercury under the Roman Empire, then a castrum. At the end of the fourth century, Saint Martin, an evangelizer of Gaul, destroyed pagan idols and founded a first Christian chapel. The surrounding natural sources and the strategic position on the Saône trade route explain this continuing occupation.

The first written mention of the church, then called "Saint Martin sur le Mont", dates back to 894 in a charter of King Eudes of France (852–898). This document confirms his property in the bishopric of Nevers. The present building, of pure Romanesque style, dates from the 11th century: vaulted nave, cul-de-four side, lava roof and Lombard bell tower. Located on the "Chemin des Moines" linking Cluny to La Ferté, it served as a visible landmark for pilgrims and travellers, now dominating the A6 motorway and the former National 6.

In the Middle Ages, the church was a central place for Laives and its hamlets (Montceaux, Ragny, etc.). In the 15th century, two Gothic chapels were added: that of the north in 1476 by Jehan Géliot, native priest of Laives, and that of the south in 1516 by Jehan de La Grange, local notary. A hermitage (Saint-Claude) was built on the hillside at the end of the 16th century. During the Revolution, transformed into "the temple of Reason", it suffered degradation before being abandoned in 1830 in favour of a new church at the bottom of the village.

The two world wars marked its history: shelter for the 265th regiment in 1914–18, then hiding weapons for the Resistance in 1939–1945, which led to bombardments and the partial destruction of the choir. Ranked a historic monument in 1905, it was restored from the 1980s (access roads) and illuminated in 1991 as "the lighthouse of Burgundy". Today, it remains a Catholic place of worship attached to the parish of Sennecey-le-Grand, witness to a thousand years of religious and military history.

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