Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre

Carolingian frescoes from the 9th century in an ancient crypt

The abbey church stands on the site of a Gallo-Roman cemetery where Saint Germain, Bishop of Auxerre, was buried in 448 AD. The crypt beneath the Romanesque church preserves a series of Carolingian frescoes painted around 850 AD — among the oldest surviving narrative frescoes in France, depicting the martyrdom of Saint Stephen. The quality of the painting is remarkable given the age.

The abbey also houses an archaeological museum with finds from the Roman and Merovingian city. Allow an hour for the crypt and museum together. Closed Tuesdays.

things to do sight museum
A story
Saint-Germain d'Auxerre was bishop here in the 5th century and is the reason the city became important in early Christianity. In 429 AD he sailed to Britain at the request of the British church to combat the Pelagian heresy — his visit is the last historically attested contact between Roman Britain and the continent before the Saxon invasions changed everything.