The first photographs in history were taken in 1827 at Saint Loup de Varennes by Nicéphore Niépce, making France the first country in the world to appear in image through a photograph of one of its villages.

It is in this Burgundy village (named for the Bishop of Chalon-sur-Saône from 601 to 602) that we find the birthplace of this ingenious inventor, which today has become a museum of photography.

Here you will find the place where the fundamentals of photography were discovered.  By means of a tin plate covered with Bitumen of Judea, from the window of his home workshop he achieved the very first heliograph/photograph entitled “Point de vue du Gras”.

Some objects are so unique that it is a privilege to get close to them, like the first internal combustion engine invented by Nicéphore Niépce and named “Pyréolophore”.  A real treat for budding archaeologists who love discovering what were newly emerging technologies!

Note that a “Photography Route” will soon be available that will follow the trail of his first photographs in the region.