The best walks and hikes around Jalogny

The Tour des Fromages is a preserved defensive tower from the 11th century, which originally belonged to the ramparts of the powerful Abbey of Cluny. In the Middle Ages, the structure was still called Tour des Fèves (Bean Tower), as supplies were stored there. It got its current, curious name in the 19th century because a merchant used the tower to dry her homemade cheeses. Today, the tower is a popular attraction. Visitors can climb the 120 steps to the top. From up there, you have a beautiful 360-degree panoramic view over the entire medieval monastic city and the surrounding Burgundy landscape. Access to the tower is directly through the local Cluny tourist office.

The palace is a rare and outstandingly preserved example of a lordly residence in the Flamboyant Gothic style. It was built in the 15th century for the powerful Abbot Jean de Bourbon. The building today houses the Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie de Cluny. Inside, you can visit monumental fireplaces, historical coins, as well as valuable sculptural remains and fragments of the once gigantic abbey church (Cluny III). The entrance to the museum is conveniently included in the ticket for the Abbey of Cluny.

The historic stone bridge Pont de la Levée in the French town of Cluny spans the river La Grosne. The popular Voie Verte cycle route runs here.

The historic town of Cluny, located in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, can best be admired from the viewing platform of the famous Cheese Tower (Tour des Fromages), from which you can enjoy a striking 360-degree view over the historic rooftops and the gentle, green hills of Southern Burgundy. Cluny is world-renowned for its Benedictine abbey, founded in 910 AD. In the High Middle Ages, the abbey was the starting point of the pioneering Cluniac reform movement and developed into the head of a Europe-wide monastic order with over 1,200 monasteries.

The large work of art on the narrow building facade directly above the fountain is a monumental, historical sundial (cadran solaire). The faded, artistic lines and Roman numerals show the classic grid system of an old vertical sundial, which the townspeople could use to read the time of day. Such large astronomical mural paintings were widespread in the Burgundy region as well as on the outbuildings of the powerful abbey, in order to synchronize the monastic and urban daily routine.

The neoclassical fountain directly on the building wall was built in the 18th century and is also known today as Fontaine Prud'hon. It was named in honor of the famous French painter and draftsman Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, who was born in Cluny in 1758. The fountain is integrated into the wall like a "water cabinet" (buffet d'eau) and features a fluted basin on a pedestal. In the past, a lion's head spout fed the basin. Today, a modern tap serves cyclists and pedestrians as a public drinking water source.

The Abbey Park of Cluny, located on the grounds of the once most powerful Benedictine abbey of the Middle Ages. The park and the surrounding ruins are the remains of the Abbey of Cluny, founded in 910, which was the religious center of Western Europe as the starting point for significant reforms. The church Cluny III (Maior Ecclesia) built there was considered the largest house of worship in Christendom for over 400 years, until it was surpassed by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In the Middle Ages, the abbey was one of the most influential spiritual and cultural centers in Europe. Cluny was the mother house of the Cluniac Reform and headed a federation of over 1,200 monasteries. The third abbey church (Cluny was the largest church in the Christian world until the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome). Of the once-mighty complex, only parts of the southern transept remain today, as the abbey was largely used as a quarry and demolished after the French Revolution.