The town of Cluny in the Saône-et-Loire department was established in the Middle Ages within the walls of the abbey. Rue Mercière, where craftsmen's and merchants' shops are lined up, forms the axis of the city from which secondary streets branch off. The 13th-century houses with facades built of freestone form a compact block along the main street. Their neat ornamentation, reserving the ground floor for shops and workshops, has a pointed arch vault with stone entablatures at breast height to display the merchandise.