Eglise romane Saint-Germain

The church of Saint-Germain-en-Brionnais was originally part of an Augustinian monastery (poor canons), founded around 1070 by the bishop of Autun. It is one of the few monasteries, along with Anzy-le-Duc and Saint-Rigaud, to escape Cluniac domination in the Middle Ages. The church has a sober architecture, reflecting the vow of poverty of the canons who originally occupied it. Among the Romanesque churches of the Charolais-Brionnais region, it is the only one similar to the hall churches (more common in Northern Europe and the Germanic regions), i.e. composed of three vessels of the same height. Inside, there is a "débeurdinoir" (altar stone with a hole in it), which is supposed to cure the simple-minded.