Tazilly: Menhir, Romanesque Church and Landscape

Tazilly brings together a wide clearing southwest of Luzy and several cultural and historical points of interest. These include the Église de Tazilly, the Chapelle de Barnaud, the menhir and the old road between Autun and Bourbon-Lancy. The town offers a clear focus for choosing a travel destination: Romanesque architecture, visible traces of earlier settlement and a landscape shaped by hedgerows, meadows and waterways. Its buildings and roads point to different periods.

Landscape and getting your bearings

The Bas Morvan Sud Ouest ZNIEFF area includes Tazilly. Its landscape is defined by hedgerows, meadows, woods, ponds and a dense network of waterways. Woods, hedged meadows, ponds, wetlands and watercourses, along with their wildlife and plant life, are also of regional importance. This variety combines open and wooded areas with bodies of water and wetlands. In addition to its buildings, visitors interested in the character of the place will find a landscape in which hedgerows, meadows and waterways are important features.

To get there from Luzy, take the D973 towards Bourbon-Lancy–Moulins, then the D30. The distance from Luzy is 6.5 km. The historical road route is a separate matter: the Gallo-Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy crossed the area, following approximately the route of today's D973. Tazilly lies southwest of Luzy in a wide clearing. This makes it possible to distinguish the present-day road route from the approximate route of the former road as two separate points of reference.

Menhir of Tazilly

The menhir is a monolith made of light-coloured granite. It is 4.5 m long and 1.3 m wide; traces of preliminary shaping can be seen on one flat side at about two-thirds of its height. These dimensions and the worked surface give the stone distinctive features that set it apart as a cultural and historical point of interest alongside the churches. The menhir was re-erected beside the D973 in 1986 to make it more visible. It comes into view after the D30 junction and the road to the hamlet of Chigy. Both the stone's shape and its re-erection are therefore part of the local history.

Churches and historical traces

The Église de Tazilly is considered a Romanesque church with the layout of a Latin cross. Its unvaulted nave, transept chapels and barrel-vaulted choir with apse describe different parts of the building. The layout identifies the cross shape of the structure; the vaulting details distinguish the nave from the choir. One of the church's bells dates from 1733. The architecture and the bell thus provide two different points of reference for exploring the church building and its furnishings.

The Chapelle de Barnaud remained open for worship until the French Revolution. It stands on the site of a former fortified house. This house was built on a motte at the edge of the Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy; extensive remains of the walls are still visible. The chapel, the former fortified house and the Roman road from Autun to Bourbon-Lancy are therefore historically connected.

The dates refer to different events: 1733 is the date of the Église de Tazilly's bell, while 1986 marks the menhir's re-erection. At the Chapelle de Barnaud, the French Revolution marks the end of the documented use of the chapel for worship. Together with the Gallo-Roman road route, these details reflect several different historical periods rather than a single one. Tazilly can therefore be considered as a travel destination primarily for its combination of landscape, church architecture and local historical traces.

Discover more destinations: Lavault-De-Frétoy, Toury-sur-Jour, La Nocle Maulaix, Saint-Vérain, Guipy, Pougues-Les-Eaux, Alligny-En-Morvan, Biches.

For the overview of the wider area: Nièvre.