Living in the Past... Cluny Trip Day 3

Today in lecture, we learned about different types of fermentation as well as wine production. Afterwards, we went to visit the famous Abbey of Cluny. This was the place I was most excited to visit in Cluny after reading the book by Edwin Mullins called CLUNY, In Search of God’s Lost Empire. While much of the Abbey had been lost, the parts that remain are definitely a must-see. It’s stunning the types of architecture they were able to pull off in the 10th century. It’s impressive the intense attention to detail that was put into what was left. The ceilings and arches ranged all the way to 30 ft high! Also, they had put statues high up in the church because they hadn’t meant to be seen by mortals, but the angels in the heavens. I learned that the Abbot of Cluny was considered at the time to be an incredibly powerful figure because he had direct contact with the Pope. This meant that he could step over royalty and was only two steps away from Heaven. After going to the church, we visited a house that would have been inhabited by a wealthy family of Cluny 800 years ago. What I found interesting about the house was that there were about 8 doors that would connect to other houses suggesting that many parts of their house were shared spaces. I also learned that the richer the family, the more elaborate the wall art would be at their home. We also visited a medieval house that was the home of an architect; he showed us a secret room that may have been inhabited by someone in hiding during the French Revolution. There were drawings all across the walls with mysterious symbols that are still being examined.

- Victoria Lee