Tournus - St. Philibert

St. Philibert, guarded by two gate towers. The western facade (10th century) reminds on the "westworks", austere, plain and fortified. The central door seen here is a later addon.

A monastery had been here since the 6th century, dedicated to the martyr St. Valerian, whose grave is in the crypt. It got raided by the Maurs and in 875 Charles the Bald offered the abbey to a group of monks from Normoutier as their monastery had been destroyed by the Normans. These monks carried the relics of St. Philibert with them, so for a while the abbey was shared by two communities, each dedicated to their own saint.

I had been here many times before (and uplaoded lots of photos) over the years, but I just had to stop in Tournus - and take more shots.