Saint-Nicolas Church, Beaune (Église Saint-Nicolas)

What you will see

Start outside, where the carved chimeras of the porch reward a close look and the stone spire rises above the low houses of the faubourg. If the door is open, step inside for a moment of calm, far from the busy centre. The walk out along the rue du Faubourg Saint-Nicolas also gives a feel for everyday Beaune beyond its walls. The heritage inventory calls the porch a caquetoire, and its exposed timber frame has a beam with engoulants, carved monster heads that seem to swallow it. Inside, rib vaults rest on capitals carved with stylised flowers and plants, the windows have no figurative stained glass, and an 18th-century altar painting shows Saint Nicholas bringing three orphans back to life. A priest is recorded here as early as 1290, and the porch and roof were restored from 1908 to 1910 by the architect Eugène Méhu. It was first placed on the list of historic monuments in 1889 and fully classified in 1921, and in 1949 the stone slabs of the nave roof gave way to flat tiles.

History

The church was built outside the town walls in the Middle Ages to serve the northern suburb of Beaune. Sources place its origins in the 12th or 13th century, and it was altered in the 14th and 15th centuries. The 15th century gave it its porch, decorated with chimeras, and a bell tower topped by a spire of tufa stone. The church has been classified as a historic monument since 1921.