--- title: "Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois: How to Visit and What to See" description: "The collegiate church of Notre-Dame rises at the heart of Semur-en-Auxois, its octagonal spire 58 metres high." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/collegiale-notre-dame-semur-en-auxois lang: en updated: 2026-10-08 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/collegiale-notre-dame-semur-en-auxois.png --- # Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois > Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois: a tall, narrow Gothic church whose windows show the drapers and butchers of Semur at work, and one remembers American soldiers. Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois is in Semur-en-Auxois (Côte-d'Or), 1 h 06 by road (84 km) from Beaune. Allow 30 to 45 minutes · Private driver from Beaune: €230 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. The collegiate church of Notre-Dame rises at the heart of Semur-en-Auxois, its octagonal spire 58 metres high. Built mainly in the 13th and 14th centuries, it is one of the most refined Gothic churches of Burgundy. Inside, a narrow, lofty nave leads to a choir lined with carved heads, and chapels paid for by the town's guilds. ## Key facts - Type: Abbeys & churches - Where: Semur-en-Auxois · Côte-d'Or - Location: 65 km north-west of Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Coordinates: 47.4906, 4.3331 - 1 h 06 from Beaune - Allow 30 to 45 minutes - Semur-en-Auxois - Official website: [terres-auxois.fr](https://www.terres-auxois.fr/sit/collegiale-notre-dame) - From Beaune: ≈ 1 h 06 · 84 km - €230 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 1 h 06 by road (84 km), €230 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History Tradition says that Duke Robert I of Burgundy founded a church here in the 11th century, to atone for the murder of his father-in-law, Dalmace of Semur. The priory belonged to the abbey of Flavigny. The present church was begun in 1225 and dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, and its choir is said to face the sunrise of 15 August. In the 15th and 16th centuries gifts from the trade guilds paid for the chapels along the north aisle. The church became a collegiate church in 1739. It was on the first list of historic monuments in 1840. Viollet-le-Duc restored it from 1845 to the mid-1850s, rebuilding the top of the spire and the roof timbers of the choir. Semur housed the headquarters of the American 78th Division from August 1918 to May 1919, and in 1927 the division's veterans gave the church a stained-glass window in memory of their dead. The organ, first built in 1584 and rebuilt in 1883, has been listed since 1987. ## What you will see Enter through the 15th-century porch with its three doors and a 16th-century Virgin and Child on the central pillar. On the north side, the Porte des Bleds, named after the wheat fields it once faced, has a 13th-century tympanum telling the story of Saint Thomas. Inside, look up at the triforium of the choir, decorated with many carved heads of the people of 13th-century Semur. Along the north aisle, the drapers' chapel shows cloth being sheared, fulled, carded and woven, the butchers' chapel shows an ox being slaughtered, and the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre holds a painted late 15th-century Entombment beside the American window. ## Planning your visit Allow 30 to 45 minutes. The church is on the Place Notre-Dame in the old town of Semur-en-Auxois, about an hour from Beaune, and is open all year, free of charge. In July and August, the Amis de la Collégiale offer free guided visits of 30 to 40 minutes. Look up at the cornices outside, where a crowd of small grotesque figures keeps watch. It is a place of worship, so please be discreet during services. ## Did you know? In the drapers' chapel, 16th-century windows show seven stages of cloth making, from shearing the sheep to combing and weaving the wool. ## Around Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois What to combine with Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois on the same day, nearest first. ### Châteaux - [Donjon de Semur-en-Auxois (Tour de l’Orle d’Or)](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/donjon-de-semur-en-auxois), 1 km away: Four huge towers of the dukes of Burgundy's castle still guard the old town of Semur. - [Château de Lantilly](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-lantilly) (7 km away): The 'château of a hundred windows', with 18th-century interiors and a celebrated flowering kitchen garden. - [Château de Bierre-lès-Semur](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-bierre-les-semur) (8 km away): Once called the 'little Versailles of Burgundy', an 18th-century estate now slowly coming back to life. ### Things to do - [Semur-en-Auxois](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/semur-en-auxois) (1 km away): A fortified town on a pink granite spur, looped by the river Armançon and guarded by great towers. - [MuséoParc Alésia](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/museoparc-alesia) (11 km away): The battlefield where Caesar defeated Vercingetorix, with a modern museum, Roman siege works and a Gallo-Roman town. - [Les Anis de Flavigny](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/anis-de-flavigny) (15 km away): Aniseed sweets made in a Benedictine abbey, with a Carolingian crypt beneath the workshops. ## Questions about Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois ### How far is Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois from Beaune? Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois is about 1 h 06 from Beaune by road (84 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €230 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois take? For the visit, allow 30 to 45 minutes. ### When is Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (terres-auxois.fr) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Can a private driver take us to Collégiale Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:notredamesemur): €230 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - --- Canonical page: