Campo Santo

The Campo Santo, in Orléans

The Campo Santo is a great grassed cloister surrounded by arcades, former medieval cemetery of Orléans classified as a historic monument. The Orléans audio-guided tour stops here, with respect, to evoke this place laden with history and memory, today a peaceful setting become a cultural setting.

The former cemetery with arcades

This great grassed cloister, surrounded by arcades, is the Campo Santo. It is the former cemetery of the town, built in the twelfth century and today classified as a historic monument. For centuries, this place was a necropolis where the deceased of Orléans were buried, in the shade of its galleries. The arcades that surround it, built between the fifteenth and the seventeenth century, formed covered galleries typical of these medieval cemetery-cloisters, that sometimes sheltered bones and funerary monuments. Having lost its function of cemetery, the Campo Santo has known several uses over time before being restored and rehabilitated. Today, this vast peaceful space, with its great central lawn and its elegant stone arcades, offers a setting of great serenity in the heart of the town. A place of memory become a place of cultural life, it now hosts events, concerts and markets, notably the medieval market of the Joan of Arc festivals, where the artisans settle under its historic arcades. This place thus mixes the memory of the past and the animation of the present, with respect for its history. A historic cloister and a place of memory, the Campo Santo is discovered with respect.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect, the great grassed cloister surrounded by arcades, former cemetery of the town built in the twelfth century and classified as a historic monument; its galleries from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century surround a vast peaceful lawn, and this place of memory become a cultural setting today hosts concerts and markets, including the medieval market of the Joan of Arc festivals. The Campo Santo is a place of memory of Orléans. It is a stop to be discovered with respect.

Practical information

The Campo Santo lies in the heart of Orléans, near the cathedral, reachable on foot. It is a public space generally freely accessible during opening hours; it hosts cultural events according to their own programme. It is best to check the hours before coming and to respect the character of this place of memory.

What is the Campo Santo in Orléans?

A great grassed cloister surrounded by arcades, former cemetery of the town built in the twelfth century and classified as a historic monument; its galleries from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century surround a vast peaceful lawn, and this place of memory, having lost its function of cemetery, today hosts concerts and markets, including the medieval market of the Joan of Arc festivals.

Where is the Campo Santo in Orléans?

In the heart of Orléans, near the cathedral, in France.