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The town's belfry belongs to the rock-hewn subterranean Église Monolithe beneath it, which can be visited only on a guided tour from the tourist office (daily 10-11.30am & 2-5pm; 33F/¬5.03). The tour starts in a dark hole in someone's backyard, supposedly the cave where St Émilion lived a hermit's life in the eighth century. A rough-hewn ledge served as his bed and a carved seat as his chair, where infertile women reputedly still come to sit in the hope of getting pregnant.

Above is the half-ruined thirteenth-century Trinity Chapel , which was built in honour of St Émilion and converted into a cooperage during the Revolution; fragments of frescoes are still visible, including a kneeling figure who is thought to be St Émilion. On the other side of the yard, a passage tunnels beneath the belfry to the catacombs , where three chambers dug out of the soft limestone were used as ossuary and cemetery from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. In the innermost chamber - discovered by a neighbour enlarging his cellar some fifty years ago - an eleventh-century tombstone bears the inscription: "Aulius is buried between saints Valéry, Émilion and Avic", St Valéry being the patron saint of local wine-growers.

The ninth- and twelfth-century church itself is an incredible place. Simple and huge, the entire structure - barrel-vaulting, great square piers and all - has been hacked out of the rock. The impact has been somewhat diminished, however, by the installation of massive concrete supports after cracks were discovered in the bell tower above in 1990. The whole interior was painted once, but only faint traces survived the Revolution, when a gunpowder factory was installed here. These days, every June, the wine council - La Jurade - assembles in the church in distinctive red robes to evaluate the previous season's wine and decide whether each viticulteur 's produce deserves the appellation contrôlée rating.

Behind the tourist office, the town comes to an abrupt end with a grand view of the moat and old walls . To the right is the twelfth-century collegiate church , with a handsome but badly mutilated doorway and a lovely fourteenth-century cloister , accessed via the tourist office (same hours; free).

You should take advantage of the produce of this well-respected wine region, whose most famous wine originates at Château Ausone , immediately south of St-Émilion (not open to the public). If you are interested in visiting local vineyards, ask at the tourist office, which has detailed lists of those that are open, or at the Maison du Vin (Mon-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6.30pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2.30-6.30pm; tel 05.57.55.50.55), also at the top of the hill by the belfry.