Photo spot in Vézelay & the Morvan
The château terrace over the Cure valley
A grass belvedere on the site of the abbots' old castle, immediately behind the basilica, looking out over the whole Cure valley.
About The château terrace over the Cure valley
Get directionsBehind the basilica, where the abbots' château once stood, there is now a level terrace of grass and lime trees with a low wall along the edge. It is the best view in Vézelay and it is thirty seconds from the church door. The ground drops away west and south into the Cure valley: hedged fields, woods, scattered farms, the river somewhere in the bottom, and the long ridge lines of the Morvan closing the distance.
It is a west-facing viewpoint, which sets the timing. Late afternoon puts warm light straight across the valley and into your subject's face; the last half hour before sunset turns the whole basin gold and hazy. Mornings are backlit and flatter, and mist sits in the valley bottom on autumn days, which is worth being there for.
The terrace is public, open and free, and it is big enough that a couple can be alone at one end even when the church has visitors. It is also the natural end of a session: walk up the street, do the basilica, come out of the north door and you are on it.
Two practical notes. The wall is low and the drop beyond it is real, so keep back from the edge with anyone small. And the terrace is exposed — on a windy day it is the least sheltered place in the village.
Best time to shoot
The last hour before sunset, when the whole valley goes gold; autumn mornings for mist below
Tips
Thirty seconds from the basilica's north door — the natural end of a session. The wall is low and the drop beyond is real. It's the most exposed spot in the village on a windy day.
Other spots in Vézelay & the Morvan
The basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine
A twelfth-century Cluniac pilgrimage church at the top of the hill, with a nave built in alternating pale and dark stone and light running down it from the east.
Rue Saint-Pierre, the village street
The one street of Vézelay, climbing between ochre-rendered houses and carved stone lintels from the lower gate to the basilica.
The Morvan lakes on the Cure
Wooded reservoir lakes in the granite hills south-east of Vézelay, fed by the same river you look down on from the terrace.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The château terrace over the Cure valley — free of charge.