Circular route from La Chapelle-sous-Uchon

Parking is available in the car park behind the church.

(S/E) From the car park, turn right and then right again after the church and follow the road towards Murger.

(1) At the fork, continue along the road towards Murger.

(2) Turn left into Murger, following a track to a T-junction.

(3) At the junction, take the sharp left-hand bend, continue up the path and pass a fountain on your left. Continue uphill to the left at the next junction.

(4) At the old farm, continue straight on until you reach the Croix de la Débauche.

(5) Turn left onto the road that descends to a pond on the left.

(6) Then follow the path leading uphill to the left. Pass through the hamlet of Vilclair and rejoin the road taken on the way there.

(1) Take the road on the right to the church car park (S/E).

A quick visit to the village chapel. The church of La Chapelle-sous-Uchon. The village of La Chapelle-sous-Uchon forms part of the Morvan Natural Park, situated at altitude amidst rugged terrain, wooded areas and wetlands, including protected sites. The parish church of Saint-Nazaire and Saint Celse is thought to date back to the 13th century. An extension and general restoration—in effect a reconstruction—were completed in 1867. Lightning caused damage to the roofs of the nave and bell tower in 1881. Since the works of 1924, the church has always been well maintained. During the 1992 restoration, the ceiling, which had been covered in plaster, revealed magnificent flamed bricks, lending the building a certain character. The interior The church consists of four bays with highly domed rib vaults, separated by square transverse ribs resting on moulded corbels, which support a plain flamboyant-style coat of arms. On the third bay, two chapels with the same vaulting but lower in height open to the right and left, forming two false transepts. The nave and choir are lit by double, rectangular windows, surmounted on the outside by a lintel carved with two semicircular lunettes. In the end wall of each of the transepts, the windows are semicircular. The bay supporting the massive, non-projecting porch is flanked by two side bays, all three opening onto the nave through semicircular arches; the central arch is surmounted by a window with a triple lunette. Stained-glass windows Stained-glass windows adorn the openings. In the chancel, the double stained-glass windows depict the Nativity scene. In the left-hand chapel: Saint Peter. In the right-hand chapel: Saint Paul. There are ten statues distributed throughout the church. At the entrance to the chancel: the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Victories; on the back wall: Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Michael the Archangel. Other statues: Our Lady of Lourdes, Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Margaret Mary, Saint Teresa, the Holy Curé of Ars. A crucified Christ is visible in the nave. Paintings In the church choir: Calvary. In the left-hand chapel: the Ascension. In the right-hand chapel: Saint Francis de Sales with Saint Jeanne de Chantal. Furnishings In the flat-backed chancel, the high altar with its tabernacle is still in place. Relics of Saint Nazaire and Saint Celse are set into it; these are the church’s patron saints. The new altar facing the congregation is at the front, along with the ambo. A confessional, pews. In 1982, Mrs Oursel described a seigneurial pew preserved in the nave, with a carved Louis XV-style panel adorned in the centre with a seven-branched candlestick and the initials PB. Gravestone A rectangular gravestone bears the inscription: ‘Here lies / Pancrace Duverne / Born in Mesvres on / 11 July 1776 / Died in Charbonnat / on 9 January 1842 / Un De Profundis’. He had made a bequest to the parish council of La Chapelle-sous-Uchon.