Bourbon-Lancy

Bourbon-Lancy in the Saône-et-Loire département of southern Burgundy draws from oligomineral springs rising at temperatures between 50 and 58°C from Carboniferous granite beneath a hilltop medieval town above the Loire valley, in a thermal tradition documented since the Gallo-Roman period when the settlement of Aquae Nisincii provided bathing facilities for the soldiers and settlers of Roman Gaul in this fertile transition zone between Burgundy and the Auvergne. The warm thermal water of Bourbon-Lancy belongs to a long thermal tradition associated with well-being that draws visitors from across the region to this compact hilltop spa town whose medieval gates, timber-framed houses, and clock tower create a remarkably preserved historical ensemble around the thermal establishment. The surrounding landscapes of the Brionnais, famous for its exceptional concentration of Romanesque churches and its prized Charolais cattle, complement the thermal stay with some of the finest examples of eleventh and twelfth-century religious architecture in rural Burgundy.