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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Clément de Mâcon was built between 1852 and 1854 by architect André Berthier, replacing a 6th century funeral basilica. This site, unique in southern Burgundy, housed the burials of the first bishops of Mâcon after the city became an episcopal city. Five religious buildings followed this site, whose remains were discovered during archaeological excavations.

The reconstruction in the 19th century is part of a context of urbanization linked to the arrival of the PLM railway, whose embankment divided the former village of Saint-Clément-lès-Mâcon, attached to Mâcon in 1856. The church, disused in 1973 for being old and small, was threatened with destruction in 1985. The excavations carried out between 1985 and 1993, initiated by the suspicions of Alain Guerreau, revealed sarcophagi and the foundations of the Merovingian funeral church, thus saving the monument.

Ranked a historical monument in 1993, the church preserves the traces of the five successive buildings, including a rounded apse and a short nave surrounded by a gallery. Although not used for worship, it remains a major architectural and archaeological testimony, complemented by a nearby modern church. The site illustrates the religious and urban evolution of Mâcon, from the Merovingian period to the present day.

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