Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Saint-Claude

Saint-Claude

Built on a monastery founded as early as the 5th century, this Gothic abbey church became in the late Middle Ages a major pilgrimage thanks to the cult of its most famous abbot, Claude of Besançon. The chapel dedicated to him still holds his wax body and his forearm in a reliquary. The fire that struck the carved choir stalls in 1983 — among the finest in France — made possible archaeological excavations that revealed the successive strata of the building, from the original abbey church to its secularisation as a bishopric in 1742. Tradition relates that the body of Saint Claude, found "incorrupt" in the 12th century, was re-examined by physicians in 1754.

Getting there : Free admission

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

Ambient sound