We celebrated St. Emilion’s 20th anniversary UNESCO designation at the village’s weekend fete. Saint-Emilion’s history goes back to prehistoric times, with churches and ruins stretching along steep, narrow streets. The Romans planted vineyards in the area as early as the 2nd century. The town was named after the monk, Emilion (died 767), who settled in a heritage carved into the rock in the 8th century. The monks who followed him started up the commercial wine production in the area. Today, Saint-Emilion is one of the principal red wine areas of Bordeaux.
We walked all about Saint-Emilion, enjoying art, beautiful churches, a cloister, talking with a wine distributor that knew someone we knew, and taking a subterranean tour of Saint-Emilion's caves, the catacombs, Trinity Chapel, and the Monolith Church of Saint-Emilion - dug out of rock from the 9th to the 13th centuries and the largest underground church in Europe. We had lunch and a glacé, and walked about more, enjoying the views across Saint-Emilion’s vast vineyards. It was an amazing day, under cloudy skies until about 3, when the sun popped out and the high temperature was 83. Perfect!
We walked all about Saint-Emilion, enjoying art, beautiful churches, a cloister, talking with a wine distributor that knew someone we knew, and taking a subterranean tour of Saint-Emilion's caves, the catacombs, Trinity Chapel, and the Monolith Church of Saint-Emilion - dug out of rock from the 9th to the 13th centuries and the largest underground church in Europe. We had lunch and a glacé, and walked about more, enjoying the views across Saint-Emilion’s vast vineyards. It was an amazing day, under cloudy skies until about 3, when the sun popped out and the high temperature was 83. Perfect!
