Butte de Suin

Suin

The highest point of the Charolais at 593 metres, the Butte de Suin overlooks an ocean of hedged pasture where, it is said, up to fifty-two bell towers can be made out in clear weather — and, on days of exceptional visibility, the distant silhouette of Mont Blanc. This natural viewpoint, set exactly on the watershed between Atlantic and Mediterranean, has been occupied since protohistoric times: archaeologists have unearthed there the remains of an ancient stronghold and then of a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Mercury, god of travellers and crossroads — a fitting tribute to a site visible from afar in every direction. A cross was raised there around the year 900, followed by a feudal castle in the 14th century, of which only the foundations remain. In 1884, the villagers hauled to the summit, by dint of oxen and muscle, a statue of the Virgin inspired by that of Fourvière in Lyon, lastingly turning the hill into a place of Marian devotion visible for miles around. Today still, walkers and pilgrims cross paths here for the same reason as a thousand years ago: to savour, from this windswept rocky promontory, a dizzying breadth of horizon rare in the Charolais countryside.

Getting there : Free access by footpath from the village of Suin (Le Bourg, 71220); car park and picnic area, orientation table at the summit

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound