Taizé - France

If I'm not mistaken, this year was the 10th time Cristina visited Taizé, I believe this village is her special place. She usually sends me a card from there and these are just 3 of them. The 1st of these 3 arrive a few days ago and the other arrived in 2013 and 2010. 

Photo: S. Leutenegger - 1077 © Ateliers et Presses de Taizé

Taizé is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.

In Taizé lives the Taizé Community, a monastic, ecumenical, international community founded in 1940 by Frère Roger.

Taizé is also known as a place of pilgrimage primarily for young adults: every week, hundreds and thousands of visitors, generally between the ages of 17 and 30, visit Taizé for an experience of prayer and community life. - in: wikipedia

Photo Taizé - 1092 © Ateliers et Presses de Taizé

 It is likely that at first the community used the village’s Romanesque church - Sainte Marie Madeleine. As the community grew another bigger church, along with other buildings were built. Today the Taizé community is short walk from Sainte Marie Madeleine. 

Luckily the village of Taizé didn’t abandon Sainte Marie Madeleine. On the contrary the village restored it. 

Sainte Marie Madeleine is a typical Burgundian Romanesque church. Its layout and architecture are simple. The bell tower is over the crossing. The bell tower also has Lombard Bands and arches on the windows. This is typical for a Romanesque church in Burgundy. 

Sainte Marie Madeleine is a small church with few windows which means that the inside is rather dark. The church is surrounded on two sides by a cemetery." - in: http://www.americansinfrance.net/attractions/Taize.cfm