landmark
Baume-les-Messieurs
Jura abbey village folded into the junction of three blind valleys, hemmed by 200-metre limestone amphitheatre cliffs, with a 9th-century abbey and a cave-fed waterfall at the valley head.
39 km · about 45 min drive
Bourgogne, France · Europe
Saint-Claude sits on the route: 10 minutes from Valfin-lès-Saint-Claude, 47km from Route des Grandes Alpes.
Saint-Claude is a town located in Bourgogne, France. With a population of 12,418, it is an important destination in Europe.
On a road trip, Saint-Claude sits in France, where you drive on the right. It's in the Europe/Paris time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Saint-Claude to your route.
Condat Abbey was founded in the 420s in the valley of Bienne, in the Jura mountains, in modern-day France. Condat became the capital of Haut Jura. The founders were local monks, Romanus (died c. 463), who had been ordained by St. Hilary of Arles in 444, and his younger brother Lupicinus of Lyon (Lupicin); the easilyRead more
defended isolated site they chose for the separate cells in which they and their followers would live in emulation of the Eastern manner of the Desert Fathers was on a stony headland at the confluence of the rivers Bienne and Tacon. Though the site still contained Roman ruins, it was accounted a 'desert' in the Life of the Fathers of the Jura, which contains the early saints' lives. Romanus continued founding other abbeys, such as Romainmôtier Abbey at Romainmôtier-Envy, which retains his name. Not far away at La Balme, Yole, the sister of Romanus and Lupicinus, founded her nunnery.
The establishment at Condat developed into one of the pre-eminent monasteries of the Merovingian and Carolingian eras. The fourth abbot, Eugendus (Oyend, died c. 510–515), was educated in the monastery and never left it. As abbot he rebuilt it in stone and transformed its early eremitism to a coenobitic rule. Oyend increased the independence of the monastery and transformed it into an ecclesiastical principality that ruled all Upper Jura; nevertheless, the diplomas apparently from Charlemagne and confirming territorial rights were demonstrated by René Poupardin to be forgeries, apparently of the eleventh century. After the time of Oyend, the monastery at Condat and the village that developed around its protective walls were known as Saint-Oyend-de-Joux. From Oyend's abbey and from Lérins Sigismund of Burgundy, newly converted from Arianism, drew monks for the refounded house (St. Maurice's Abbey) that he established at Agaunum, c. 515–522. Many further abbots of Condat were canonised, as well as several monks of the sixth and seventh centuries.
The abbey library and school educated Leutfridus (Leufroy, died 738) himself a founder of a Benedictine abbey, Romanus, Archbishop of Reims, and Viventiolus, Archbishop of Lyon. Carloman, uncle of Charlemagne, retired to Condat, where the Benedictine rule was established in 814. A monk of Condat, Manon, having enriched the library of Condat with manuscripts, was appointed by Charles the Bald, about 874, to head the Palace school: among his pupils there was Radboud, Bishop of Utrecht.
In the tenth century Stephen of Beze (died 1116) increased the abbey's reputation. Before he became a monk of Condat, Simon of Crépy, of the Carolingian royal house, was raised by Matilda, wife of William the Norman, was made count of Valois and Vexin, and fought Philip I of France.
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Saint-Claude is located in Bourgogne, France, Europe. The coordinates are 46.3868 latitude, 5.8647 longitude.
Saint-Claude has a population of approximately 12,418 people, making it a town in France.
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Full driving guide for France5 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
Jura abbey village folded into the junction of three blind valleys, hemmed by 200-metre limestone amphitheatre cliffs, with a 9th-century abbey and a cave-fed waterfall at the valley head.
39 km · about 45 min drive
famous road
France's ultimate driving route: ~700 km from Lake Geneva to the Riviera over 16 great alpine cols including Iseran and Galibier. Pin marks the traditional start at Thonon-les-Bains.
47 km · about 55 min drive
mountain pass
A fearsome Jura mountain climb with four different approaches, all featuring extreme gradients up to 22% on narrow forest roads popular with cycling purists.
53 km · about 60 min drive
waterfall
Fan of spring water pouring over moss-covered tufa terraces at Les Planches-près-Arbois in the Jura, at snowmelt one of France's most photographed waterfalls, minutes on foot from the village parking.
54 km · about 60 min drive
natural wonder
Western Europe's largest lake, shared with France, framed by the Alps and lined with vineyards, castles, and the famous Jet d'Eau fountain.
55 km · about 65 min drive
April to October
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