The vast area of La Bresse is sandwiched between Burgundy and Jura, bringing its lush bloom to the Ain département. It is one of the Rhone Alps’ richest terroirs, the notion of which is stronger here than anywhere else.
Everything here has a special feel about it: a rural heritage revealed in farms, the pure Romanesque lines of village churches, craftsmen’s skills, the way local products are made use of.
You can hear the town’s heartbeat in the shadow of the Notre-Dame collegiate church. Pedestrian streets create the ideal place to walk, with beautiful medieval buildings and houses with Renaissance courtyards to admire along the way. Artistic ironwork adorns the front of these 18th C town houses. Shops and restaurants have taken over basements, taking every care to respect the architectural features.
Throughout the old district of this small capital there are fine half-timbered medieval houses. All have been beautifully restored, blending perfectly with the refined 18th C houses next door. This architectural union shows a remarkable continuity in town planning and the jewel in its crown is the Royal Monastery at Brou. It was built in the 16th C, commissioned by Marguerite d’Autriche in memory of her husband Philibert le Beau, Duke of Savoie.
It took every flamboyant feature of gothic art and 25 years of building work to honour this husband who died too early.
The church’s chancel houses royal tombs and fine retables made from carved marble. Sumptuous windows filter the light, making lacy patterns with the stone of the rood-loft and soaring vaults in the nave.
Attached to the side of the church is an unusual collection of three cloisters on different floors, which once housed Augustine monks whose job was to pray for dead noblemen. Today there is a museum within the gallery and cells, exhibiting a large collection of paintings
Hotel Terminus
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avenue Alphonse Baudin
01000 Bourg-en-Bresse
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