Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Paray-le-Monial
A Romanesque priory church built on the model of Cluny, at the heart of a pilgrimage town.
- Abbey or church
- 1 h 19 from Beaune
- Allow 45 minutes to 1 hour
- Paray-le-Monial
€285one way from Beaune with a private driver
At a glance
- Official website
- sacrecoeur-paray.org
Getting there
Private driver from Beaune: 1 h 19 by road (109 km), €285 one way for the whole car.
Coming by train or plane? Transfers from stations and airports →
About the place
The basilica of Paray-le-Monial stands beside the river Bourbince, with two towers on its façade and an octagonal tower over the crossing. It was built under the abbots of Cluny and follows the plan of their great abbey church, which has almost entirely disappeared. Since the 19th century it has also been the centre of the pilgrimage to the Sacred Heart.
What you will see
Enter through the narthex between the two façade towers, where carved capitals crown the columns. Inside, the nave rises to about 22 metres under pointed barrel vaults, which makes the church feel far larger than its 63.5 metres of length. In the half-dome of the apse, a 14th-century fresco of Christ in Glory, surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists, was uncovered in 1935. Then cross the bridge over the Bourbince for the classic view of the basilica rising above the river, next to the old priory buildings.
History
In the 970s Count Lambert of Chalon founded a monastery here and asked Mayeul, abbot of Cluny, to send monks, and a first church was consecrated in 977. Paray became a priory of Cluny, and the present church was built in the late 11th and early 12th centuries under Hugh of Semur, the great abbot of Cluny. It repeats the plan and vaults of the third abbey church of Cluny on a smaller scale: three aisles instead of five, and three chapels around the choir instead of five.
The monks left in 1791, and in 1794 the bell tower was partly pulled down. The church was classified as a historic monument in 1846 and restored from the 1850s by the architect Eugène Millet. Pilgrims came in growing numbers to the town where Margaret Mary Alacoque had seen her visions, and in 1875 Pope Pius IX made the church a minor basilica and allowed its dedication to the Sacred Heart. A restoration of the interior was completed in 2007.
Planning your visit
Tips for your visit
The basilica is a working church at the heart of the sanctuary, so visits pause during masses; entry is free. The tourist office offers audio guides to the basilica and the cloister of the former priory in eight languages, and runs guided town tours on Sunday afternoons in May, June and September and every day in July and August. The Chapelle de la Visitation and the Musée du Hiéron are a few minutes' walk away, so allow half a day for Paray.
Around here
What to combine with Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Paray-le-Monial on the same day, nearest first.
Questions
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Paray-le-Monial is about 1 h 19 from Beaune by road (109 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €285 for the whole car, up to 4 guests.
Did you know? Pope Pius IX raised the church to a basilica in 1875, two hundred years after the best-known apparition to Margaret Mary, in June 1675.
Sources
Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Paray-le-Monial with a private driver
€285 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests