Auxerre - Saint-Germain d’Auxerre

Auxerre was a Gallo-Roman centre, then called Autissiodorum. Here the Via Agrippa crossed the Yonne river. It became the seat of a bishop already in the 3rd century. In the 5th century, it received a cathedral.

Wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century made Auxerre a flourishing town. Auxerre suffered during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged.

The former abbey goes back to an oratory erected by Bishop Germain for the relics of St. Maurice. It then became the Bishop´s burial ground. About the year 500, it was rebuilt as a basilica, by Queen Clotilda, wife of Clovis.

In 850 Abbot Conrad, brother-in-law of Louis the Pious, had a crypt built. Attached to the crypt was a circular oratory. Conrad's nephew, Emperor Charles the Bald, was present at the translation of the relics of Germain (Germanus).

In 1927, beneath the 17th-century frescoed plaster walls of the crypt, were discovered ninth-century wall frescoes, the only surviving large-scale paintings of their date in France.

During the Revolution, several bays of the nave were demolished and the secularized abbey was used as a hospital.

I had seen the frescoes some years ago. They are fantastic, but it is not allowed to take photographs. This early morning the abbey/museum was still closed, so I just took some photos of the graffiti.