At the origins of passion

Gallo-Roman influence

From the 1st ^century BC onwards, Gallo-Roman influence shaped the landscape of the Solutré-Pouilly-Vergisson Grand Site, near the imposing Roche. The lush valley forests gave way to pastures, and the limestone slopes became home to vineyards. Cultivated plots were carefully preserved, and the "saltus" appeared—areas of forest and meadows used for grazing on the summits and ridges.

Combining agriculture, livestock farming, viticulture and firewood production, this landscape organization allowed for a self-sufficient economy, laying the foundations for continuous occupation of the site to this day.

enigmatic and strategic medieval fortress

In the Middle Ages, the Roche de Solutré held crucial strategic importance. A castle , of which only a few traces remain today, once stood on the edge of the escarpment. Attributed to King Raoul (923-936), the construction of this fortress was intended to protect the borders on the Beaujolais side. In 1330, Jean de Braine sold the County of Mâcon to the King of France. The canons of the Chapter of Saint-Vincent, who had been entrusted with the castle's guardianship by Philip Augustus, relinquished their rights. Conflicts between the Armagnac and Bourbon families then threatened the citadel with destruction. In 1435, Duke Philip the Good, fearing that it would fall into the wrong hands and threaten the Mâconnais region, ordered its dismantling. The destruction of the castle, the scene of fierce battles , was a relief for the local population.

In the 19th ^century , excavations revealed some wall foundations, still visible today, and clues to the layout of the fortress buildings. Adrien Arcelin's analysis now allows us to understand that the fortress 's strategic position mattered more than its sheer power.

what the monks leave behind

The 10th ^century marked the founding of the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny and the rise of the Mâconnais vineyards . Monasteries established wine estates and undertook land clearing and stone paving projects. Vine cultivation now became more important than pastureland and other cereal crops.

The footprint of Agriculture

In the 19th ^century , the rural population reached its peak and the land was largely cultivated. Agriculture shaped the landscape along the hillsides, creating a rich and varied mosaic. Woods and heathland occupied the summits, giving way to vineyards on the slopes. Arable land lay at the foot of the hills, and meadows in the valley bottoms. Viticulture became predominant, being more profitable than cereal farming. Temporarily slowed in the middle of the century by the phylloxera crisis , it quickly regained its dominance.

During the first half of the 20th century, agriculture remained diversified , combining livestock farming and crop production. The second half of the century saw the near disappearance of livestock farming in favor of vineyards. Boxwood groves, or buxai, then appeared on the cliffs and grasslands.

A great site and men

Evoking the famous landscape of the Grand Site, the verses of the Mâconnais poet Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1849) resonate like an echo of what, since the dawn of time, Men have admired here: "Two petrified ships overlooking a sea of ​​vines".

More recently, François Mitterrand (1916-1996) left his mark there, making the Roche de Solutré a place of annual pilgrimage, conducive to observing the evolutions of the world and to exchanges with the press.

A silent witness to the passage of time, a link between ages, the Grand Site de France Solutré Pouilly Vergisson harmoniously blends past and present. This land, through the centuries, shapes the lives and destinies of those who traverse it.