Saint Émilion

The town of Saint Émilion is located east of Bordeaux. It gives its name to a region that has, for centuries, produced some of the finest wines in the world.

It has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site, and every effort is made to preserve its appearance. Fortuitously, it fell at just the right place for us to take a break between the Pyrenees area and the Loire valley, our next destination. We spent a whole day there, and could have spent a week exploring this town and the area around it. Someday we will do that.

We had a delightful surprise in St. Émilion! In the morning we went down to sign up for the tour at the chamber of commerce and as we entered the square, we ran into a couple from our Church! They were taking a cycling tour of southern France and were heading south as we were heading north. We joined them for the tour of the town.

The Two Faces of Saint Émilion

Saint Émilion can be seen as either of two things: A beautiful, well preserved, medieval village, or the heart of one of the greatest wine growing regions in the world. We came to see the medieval village, but right beyond the walls the vineyards begin, and stretch as far as the eye can see. The wine has shaped the village by bringing fame, riches and visitors to the area. One cannot visit the village without acknowledging the debt that it owes to the wine, even if one can drink the wine without knowing the village. We like both.

The Village

St Émilion is built on two ridges at the top of a limestone cliff. Steep streets lead from the upper part of town down into the lower town.

		The lower town shelters a plaza with the tables from a couple of local restaurants. Open-air dining suits the ambiance of the town.

		Note the heavy erosion in the extremely soft, friable limestone.

The Churches

In addition to the fine gothic village church, there are two interesting former churches that can only be visited on the guided tour. The guide has the keys.

		On the upper town stands the current Church. The cloister is airy and harmonious. Nearby is the belfry of the underground Church. It can be seen from all over town.
Right underneath the upper town plaza is the underground church hollowed out starting in the 8th century. The windows were added in the 16th century. It is the largest monolithic Church in France.
		The ceiling has angels carved out of the stone of the cliff. The Church used to be filled with a forest of concrete pilings set up to keep the roof from collapsing under the weight of the bell tower. Now they are reinforcing the pillars so that the Church can be seen again.
		Altars from various periods were carved into the soft stone.
		In the early days, the caves were also used as catacombs. This grave marker is from the eleventh century. After the French Revolution much Church property was sold off to the people. Some buildings were torn down to re-use the stones, others were turned to profane uses. The Trinity chapel was used as a cooperage, and the soot from the fires used in charring the barrels (for flavor) and for steaming the staves for forming the barrels, covered the walls and preserved these twelfth century frescos until a recent cleaning revealed them. The owner of Chateau Laniotte still owns the Trinity Chapel and the Hermitage. It appears on his wine label.

The Wine

Everywhere you go in St Émilion there are signs of the wine industry.

		This stately building houses the organization the controls the "appelation", deciding which vineyards may call themselves St. Émilion. Want some Merlot? Three Euros apiece.
		This wall is all that's left of a former Dominican friary that was abandoned during the 100 years war. It is now a vineyard.

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