Practically nothing is left of the prestigious past of this village. Tradition holds that an abbey of women was founded there as early as mid 7th century.Château-Chalon has been world-wide famed for ages thanks to its celebrated "vin jaune" elaborated from Savagnin plants and bottled in special "clavelins". It is ranked among the most beautiful villages in France. It is located at the lowest part of a typical "reculée" sheltering the river Seille.


The "Clavelin"



After a six-year maturation in oak- casks, the wine is bottled in special "clavelins" with a particular regular shape and capacity. The capacity -62 cl- corresponds to what is left from 1 3/4 pint of wine put to mature in casks. These "clavelins" bottles have been produced at the glass-works at near-by La Vieille Loye until 1931. The origin of the word is most likely to be found in a local family branch.

 




 Here are some unusual winter pictures of Château-Chalon :
an exceptional landscape of vineyards worth ranking
in the world's heritage list.

















The parish church of St Peter (11th - 19th C) :



Driving still further up along the "reculée", you will soon discover another remarkable spot :





At the bottom of an impressive "reculée" with the spring of the Seille river near-by was erected the abbey of Baume-les-Messieurs founded by St Colomban in the sixth century. This abbey suffered numerous misfortunes : sacked by the Saracenic hordes in the 8th century, by the Normans in the 9th century, by the Hungarians in the 10th century, by the English in the 14th century, ravaged by a fire in the 16th century, ransacked during the 30 Year War, then sold as a national property in 1793. This abbey shelters some remarkable works of art among which a polyptyc carved by the Antwerp Master between 1515 and 1525, recently restaured, and an exceptional set of statues from the Burgundy School of Claus Sluter. This abbey, one of the oldest in France, was at the origin of the foundation of Cluny, thanks to St Bernon who, with 12 other monks started the task as early as 910. But when Cluny was at its most expanding period, Baume refused to follow its rule in order to depend of Rome only. Baume then lost its abbey status to become a parish church whose canons, all of noble birth, started to have expensive mansions built : Baume -les-Moines then became Baume-les-Messieurs.

 

St Peter's abbey.(12th).

The Virgin Mary( 17th ).

Flemish altar-piece (16th C).

As if cold and snow had preserved Baume-les-Messieurs as it was in passed times :





Typical example of a Jura cross-valley







The frozen Seille falls





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