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On the outskirts of Lyon (30 Km), the visitor
can trace the path of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney
in his mission of parish priest at Ars-sur-Formans.
The church of Saint Sixtus, a 12th-century listed
monument, rebuilt by the Holy Priest of Ars, is
now a gateway into the 19th-century Saint Sixtus
Basilica, which the Saint had designed by the
architect Pierre-Marie Bossan. The transept of
the basilica contains a reliquary containing the
body of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney. The house of
the Saint is preserved as it was in his time as
is the chapel of the Heart and both can be visited.
A semi-underground church was also built in 1961
to take the growing number of pilgrims. The "Historial
du Saint Curé d'Ars" illustrates his
with waxfigures made by GREVIN.
A wide network of foot and
cycle paths take you through the unspoilt countryside:
dovecotes, poypes, lakes, the banks of the Saône,
washing places, traditional farms, Romanesque
churches...
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East of Ars, the countryside
is dotted with a thousand lakes, the Dombes, shaped
from the 11th century onwards by Benedictine and
Carthusian monks, where mankind and nature are
in balance. A natural nesting-ground for 130 species
of resident and migratory birds, France's main
region for fresh-water fishing, and an ancient
principality from the 16th to the 18th centuries,
the Dombes leaves a lasting memory in the hearts
of visitors.
The riches of nature
can be discovered at many sites – tours
around "The Lake Road", the Villars-les-Dombes
bird park and wildfowl reserve). For culture –
the remains of the château of Ambérieux-en-Dombes,
the 17th-century château of Fléchères,
Trévoux, the ancient capital of the Principality
of Dombes, Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne (Saint
Vincent de Paul), the medieval city of Pérouges,
Notre-Dame des Dombes.
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