For about two centuries, the largest church in Christendom stood in this small Burgundian town. The abbey of Cluny, founded in 910, grew into the head of a vast network of monasteries across Europe, and its third church, begun at the end of the eleventh century, was longer than any other until St Peter's in Rome was rebuilt. Popes came from its ranks, kings sought its blessing. Then came the Revolution: the abbey was dissolved, sold, and used for decades as a stone quarry. What remains is a fragment, a single soaring arm of the transept with its octagonal bell tower, and the empty space around it is almost more eloquent than the building would have been.
Walk through the abbey precinct and you can feel the scale. Digital reconstructions in the visitor centre show the church as it was, and the town around it still follows the lines of the old monastery, with Romanesque houses, towers and gates scattered through the streets. The national stud farm, established by Napoleon, occupies part of the old abbey grounds, and you may see horses being exercised.
For lunch, Cluny has a good selection of cafés and restaurants around the abbey, serving Burgundian classics and Charolais beef, which comes from the pastures just to the west. A few kilometres north, the ecumenical community of Taizé attracts thousands of young pilgrims every year, a modern echo of Cluny's spiritual pull.
Getting here from Mâcon is half the fun. The road climbs over the hills of the Mâconnais, through vineyards and woods, with tight bends and fine views, before dropping into the valley of the Grosne. Another route passes near the Roche de Solutré and the vineyards of Pouilly-Fuissé. Traffic is light, the surfaces are mostly good, and the scenery changes constantly. The old railway line between Cluny and Mâcon is now a greenway for cyclists, so expect bikes at the crossings. Cluny is small, but it has the basics; for a wider choice of fuel and shops, the towns around Mâcon are the better bet.