Royal Monastery of Brou

Bow before such beauty

Once you’ve admired the stalls, make sure you don’t overlook the portrayal of spanking (look to your right!). Finally, you will come to three tombs. To the south is Margaret of Bourbon’s, decorated with little hearts and her coat-of-arms, and then the monumental vaults of our destination’s most famous couple: Margaret of Austria to the north and Philibert the Good in the middle. The prince is shown wearing full armour, and surrounded by ‘putti’ (naked winged angels). The princess’ vault features a canopy bed. Here’s a fun fact to get out to impress your friends when you next come here: the bodies are actually buried underneath the choir, in the same sealed vault.

A visit not to be missed

For the next part of the visit, we invite you up to the rood screen gallery, to get a remarkable view from up above, of the tombs, nave and stained-glass windows. There’s a passage that will lead you to Margaret’s apartments, the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts and the three cloisters. We could write pages and pages about the beautiful yet tragic history of this monument. What better than a visit in person to experience its charm for yourself.

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