Le Puy-en-Velay
GPS 45° 02' 39" N 03° 53' 0" E; Altitude avg. 630 m
Le Puy, a town of around 20,000 people (1999) is located south west of St Etienne in the Department of Haute-Loire in the Auvergne Region.
The St James Way (GR 65) - Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle
The Route of Santiago de Compostela or ‘via Podiensis’ is one of the most important French routes to Santiago in Northern Spain. It stretches 1600 kms across France and Spain and commences in Plot Square in Le Puy. The St Gilles Way departs from this same square.
Its use dates back to around 950 and is considered one of the most picturesque and enjoyable routes to Santiago, with small churches en route and so ideal for pilgrims. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and pilgrims!
For more details visit
UNESCO's world heritage site.
The
Château de Polignac, lying on the continuation of 'the Regordane' to the north-west of Le Puy is well worth a visit.
A Pilgrimage Shrine.
Crowning the summit of Mount Corneille in the Auvergne region of central France, the cathedral of Notre Dame in Le Puy is one of Europe's oldest, most famous and most beautiful pilgrimage shrines. Much visited during medieval times by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela and highly venerated for its Black Madonna statue, Mount Corneille's use as a sacred place has its roots in prehistoric times. Prior to the arrival of Christianity an enormous dolmen, or single standing stone, stood atop the sacred hill. Nothing is known of the people who erected this stone nor of the manner in which it was used, yet the mysterious stone was to play a decisive role in the development of Le Puy as a Christian pilgrimage site.
Sometime between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, a local woman suffering from an incurable disease had visions of Mary. In her visions she received instructions to climb Mt. Corneille, where she would be cured by the simple act of sitting on the great stone. Following this advice, the woman was miraculously cured of her ailment. Appearing to the woman a second time, Mary gave instructions that the local bishop should be contacted and told to build a church on the hill.
According to legend, when the bishop climbed the hill, he found the ground covered in deep snow even though it was the middle of July. A lone deer walked through the snow, tracing the ground plan of the cathedral that was to be built. Convinced by these miracles of the authenticity of Mary's wishes, the bishop completed construction of the church by AD 430.
Despite ecclesiastical pressures, which sought to combat the survival of pagan religious practices, the great dolmen was left standing in the center of the Christian sanctuary and was consecrated as the Throne of Mary. By the eighth century, however, the pagan stone, popularly known as the "stone of visions," was taken down and broken up. Its pieces were incorporated into the floor of a particular section of the church that came to be called the Chambre Angelique, or the "angels chamber." Most of these early structures disappeared and were replaced by the current basilica, a composite construction dating from the 5th to 12th centuries AD. While primarily an example of Romanesque architecture, the massive cathedral of Notre Dame shows strong Byzantine and Arabic influences in both its construction and decoration.
This section comes courtesy of SacredSites.com
The façade, striped in courses of white sandstone and black volcanic breccia, is reached by a flight of sixty steps, and consists of three orders: the lowest composed of three high arcades opening into the porch, which extends beneath the first bays of the nave; above are three central windows that light the nave; above are three gables one the gable-end of the nave, flanked by two openwork screening gables. The south transept doorway is sheltered by a fine Romanesque porch. Behind the choir rises a separate Romanesque bell-tower in seven storeys.
The bays of the nave are roofed by octagonal cupolas, the cupola at the crossing forming a lantern; the choir and transepts are barrel vaulted. The striking parti-colored cloister is connected to remains of fortifications of the 13th century that separated the cathedral precincts separated from the rest of the city. Near the cathedral, the 11-century baptistery of St John is built on Roman foundations.
Pilgrims starting their journey to Santiago de Compostela gather to be blessed each morning. The cathedral has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1998, as part of the "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France".
This section comes courtesy of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
The city of Le Puy has an additional pilgrimage shrine that was much visited during medieval times. Perched high atop an eighty-meter needle of steep volcanic rock, the Chapel of St. Michael marks another site known to have had pre-Christian sanctity.
This section comes courtesy of SacredSites.com
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