Between these atypical monuments and these small medieval streets, discover the city of Le Puy (ponots refers to the inhabitants of Puy-en-Velay)From the upper town of the Middle Ages to the lower town of the Renaissance era, you will be amazed!
Ranked among the Most Beautiful Detours in France, the town of Puy-en-Velay is known for being the starting point of the path to Saint-Jacques-de-CompostelleThe cathedral complex is notably included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the Routes of Saint-Jacques. In addition, the city is increasingly renowned for its major events such as the Trail of Saint-Jacques by UTMB, the Puy of Lights or Nights Festival Saint-Jacques.
1) Martouret Square
Martouret comes from the Late Latin “ martoretum ” and means cemetery. In popular belief, this name eventually came to mean “ place of the martyrs ” because this place was reserved for public executions.
It was also here that the previous and authentic miraculous statue of the Black Virgin was burned on June 8, 1794. During the French Revolution , the guillotine was permanently installed in this square from March 30, 1793, until January 1795; 41 executions were carried out.
2) City Hall
It closes off the Place du Martouret . Completed in 1766 and the work of the architect Portal, this Louis XV style building , with its sober facade, was built on the site of the former consular house and was destroyed several times by violent fires (1653, 1817, 1964).
3) Place du Clauzel
In Languedocian, the term “ clauzel ” referred to a small enclosure . It was a cemetery , intended for the burial of the poor of the Hôtel-Dieu. It was decommissioned in 1654.
The flea market takes place there on Saturday mornings .
4) Courrerie Street
This street was formerly known as Rue des Corroyeurs . At number 6, a Renaissance house opens onto the street through a triple arch with projecting keystones adorned with grotesques; an inner courtyard and a turret dating from 1571. At number 8, you will find a 16th-century facade.
5) Place du Plot
It's a pleonasm, as the name comes from the Late Latin " planum ," meaning place , which became "plo" in Languedocian. In 1548, the consuls erected a pillory in this square where drunkards were exposed to the mockery of passersby. The fountain, known as the "Bidoire," is the oldest in the town ; installed in 1246, the dolphins and eagles that decorate it likely date from the 15th century. From the 10th century to the beginning of the 19th, the eastern side of the square was occupied by the Church of Saint-Pierre du Monastier.
On Saturday mornings, the market square is open for farm products. In particular, they sell a delicious local cheese covered with a multitude of microorganisms (the "artisons") which ensure its quality.
The place is also the starting point of the path to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle (Via Podiensis, GR65) and some Regordane way by rue Saint-Gilles for pilgrims going to Saint-Gilles du Gard.
6) Pannessac Street
This is the old grain trading street . It has preserved many dwellings dating from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The 15th century left a corbelled turret at number 16, which overlooks Rue Philibert.
7) Rue Chènebouterie
At number 9, you will find the birthplace of Marshal Fayolle, dating from 1592. Marshal Fayolle (1852-1928), a general at the end of the First World War, commanded the French army in Italy in 1917 and victoriously participated on the French front in the decisive offensive of 1918.
In this street, the route of the fifteen-century-old pilgrimage to the Virgin of Le Puy-en-Velay begins on Mount Anis . Even today, after the gathering of the faithful and pilgrims in the Place du Martouret, it is the starting point of the moving torchlight procession of August 14th.
8) Chamarlenc Street
At number 18, you will find the headquarters of the former Confrérie des Cornards (note the two mascarons). In the 17th century , the Confrérie des Cornards, a Bacchic confraternity celebrating the good life and good food, was created in Le Puy-en-Velay . Once a year, the Confrérie would set off in a burlesque procession to Saint-Germain-Laprade, singing its Chanson des Cornards (Song of the Cuckolds).
On the pediment one can still see the mascarons of two cuckolds, and the inscriptions above each of these two cuckolds: " vois le cuckard rian " and " a que les cornes von bien sur un fron comme le mien ".
9) Rue Raphaël
This street was once inhabited by bourgeois families and the notables of the city.
At number 38, the Bobbin Lace teaching center invites you, after the screening of a video, to visit its collection of antique and contemporary lace in the setting of a late 18th century house.
At number 56, you will find a facade with Corinthian columns which support on the first floor mascarons representing the sun and the moon.
10) Place of Tables
The fountain in Place des Tables, known as the “ Choirboy ” fountain, was dedicated in the 15th century to the memory of a young choirboy who sang carols in the streets of this district of Le Puy during the Christmas holidays. Until 1803, the fountain stood at number 11 Rue des Farges (the former blacksmiths' and farriers' quarter).
11) Table Street
The Rue des Tables was once home to goldsmiths and merchants of religious objects , which they displayed to pilgrims on wooden tables on either side of the street. The street takes its name from this. Its ascent is continuous, with 134 steps leading up to the nave of the cathedral.
12) The Hotel Dieu
Linked to pilgrimage and the Marian shrine, the Hôtel-Dieu was founded in the 12th century to care for the poorest patients . An exemplary renovation, entrusted to architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, allows visitors to rediscover this important site in the city's history. A space dedicated to showcasing local heritage, exhibition halls, a conference center, and a café all contribute to enhancing the upper town and strengthening its appeal.
The Hôtel Dieu and the cathedral complex of Puy-en-Velay are listed on the UNESCO world heritage list under the Paths of Saint-Jacques-of Compostela.
A monumental work called " The Heart of the Hôtel-Dieu " by the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is installed in the garden.
13) The Cathedral
From its origins to the present day, the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame du Puy has contributed to the development and prosperity of the city. Romanesque in style , the Cathedral displays various influences from the East and Moorish Spain.
Beneath the large porch, you will find the 12th-century “ cedar doors ” and the interior staircase (open in summer). The chancel rests on the rock. To accommodate the ever-increasing number of pilgrims, four additional bays were boldly built in the 11th and 12th centuries, overhanging the void to compensate for a 17-meter difference in elevation.
14) The Sainte-Alexis digital chapel
Via Becdelièvre Street , you arrive directly at the digital chapel where the show "Land of Giants" is performed , a series of interactive and playful scenographies to travel through the Haute-Loire.
The building also houses the Haute-Loire Departmental Council building , a prime location for organizing events, conferences, and seminars. An exhibition gallery, open year-round with free admission, showcases works by local artists.
We continue to the old 14 bis Porte Gouteyron (1295) through which we discover a superb view of the rock and the Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe chapel.
15) The Chapel of the Penitents
Built in 1584, this chapel, still open for worship, contains beautiful paintings and sculptures. It features a remarkable coffered ceiling (Renaissance) whose central motif is the Assumption of the Virgin (open daily in July and August from 14 pm to 18 pm).
During the Revolution, the chapel of the penitents was saved from desecration by the butchers' guild, which holds a memorial mass there every year.
16) The Cloister
Classified as a historical monument and built at the same time as the Cathedral (11th-12th century), the cloister of Le Puy-en-Velay is one of the most beautiful in Europe . In the Hall of the Estates of Velay, you will discover an exceptional collection of embroideries and liturgical ornaments, and in the chapter house, the fresco of the crucifixion (early 13th century).
The historian and academician Émile Male wrote that the arcades of the Vellave cloister could be compared to those of the mosque of Cordoba , their voussoirs of different colours alternating harmoniously in the same way.
Note: The portal and the lions of the Baptistery of Saint John are of Lombard inspiration.
17) The Place du For
Via the Rue de la Manécanterie , one reaches the Place du For (centre of the primitive city-forum) to admire the view over the city.
On the right, you will find the façade of the bishopric and the porch of the For (12th century) with its openwork arches, its capitals and the oldest stones of the Marian sanctuary. The latter recalls, on the tympanum and the lintel of the so-called “papal” door, the Roman architect of the first building, Scutaire, who would become bishop of Puy-en-Velay and would be canonized.
Under the porch, a lintel comes from the old pagan temple and bears the name of a deity whose cult was celebrated on Mount Anis, that of an emperor deified by the Romans: Adidon and Augustus.
18) The Camino
The Saint-Vidal mansion, a 14th century building, is listed in the inventory of monuments with vaulted rooms and painted decorations. It serves as a setting for the Camino which in one hour, thanks to a multi-sensory scenography, reveals to you the spirit and the different stages of the path to Saint-Jacques-de-CompostelleThe visitor is immersed in the adventure of Compostela and interactively travels through the stages of Le Puy-en-Velay Saint Jacques-of Compostela.
Returning to Rue Saint-Georges , one then passes the chapel of the Grand Seminary . The Seminary of Le Puy and that of Saint-Sulpice in Paris were founded by Abbot Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657), Abbot of Pébrac. The Venerable Mother Agnès Galland , born in Le Puy (1602-1634), a Dominican mystic, was the spiritual inspiration behind these institutions. Her reliquary is in Langeac at the Convent of Saint Catherine of Siena. She was beatified in Rome on November 20, 1994, by Pope John Paul II.
19) Cardinal de Polignac Street
We emerge opposite the chapel of the Anne-Marie Martel school. Anne-Marie Martel (1644-1673), born in Le Puy, founded in 1668 the Congregation of the “Ladies of Instruction” better known as the “Beates” who assisted the sick, animated the “ assemblies ” of villages in the Velay where they taught catechism and lacemaking.
Gathered in “ couvige ” (from the Latin cum vicinis: with the neighbors), the lacemakers of Haute-Loire numbered up to 130 in the middle of the 000th century.
Cardinal de Polignac Street , on the even-numbered side, features a succession of old houses that are among the richest in the upper town . At number 8, the former Polignac mansion, dating from 1611 until the Revolution, has a 15th-century turret overlooking an inner courtyard.
Cardinal Melchior de Polignac (1661 – 1741) was Archbishop of Auch, French ambassador to Poland, and entrusted with missions to Rome and Holland. In 1713, he negotiated the Treaty of Utrecht, which recognized Philip V's (grandson of Louis XIV) right to occupy the throne of Spain.
20) Rue Rochetaillade
In particular at number 7, you will find the oldest bourgeois residence in the city with its Romanesque facades (13th century).
Rue du Bouillon : Named after the charity founded in Le Puy by Saint John Francis Regis to help needy families by delivering meals to them.
21) Place de la Platrière
This square is significant for several reasons: it marks the birthplace of the writer Jules Vallès and the former Chapel of the Visitation , built between 1652 and 1655, where the Companions of Jehu were tried at the end of the French Revolution. These Companions persecuted the Jacobins from January to June 1795 in the Lyon region. Of the 114 accused, 111 were acquitted and 3 were sentenced to death in March 1799. However, the death sentences were not carried out, as the prisoners escaped with the help of local accomplices.
Jules Vallès (1832-1885) was a member of the Paris Commune in 1871. He escaped the execution of the Communards in front of the Communards' Wall on May 27 and took refuge in London. He returned to Paris after the amnesty in 1883, relaunched his newspaper "Le cri du peuple" and finished his autobiographical novel, the trilogy "Jacques Vingtras", "L'enfant, le bachelier, l'insurgé".
22) The Pierre Cardinal Center
These remarkably restored buildings now house the community center , a cultural and congress center, and a youth hostel.
After having been the convent of the Sisters of Saint Mary in the 18th century , a barracks in 1792, a museum from 1820 to 1851, the building was named after Mouton-Duvernet and had a school function from 1920 to 1976. General Mouton-Duvernet, born in Le Puy in 1770, was shot in Lyon in 1816 for having rallied to Emperor Napoleon I upon his return from the island of Elba.
Poet and troubadour, Pierre Cardinal (1180-1278) was one of the most vigorous talents of Occitan-language literature. He was famous for the critical “sirventes” he expressed during a life of almost a hundred years.
23) The Monastery of Saint Clare
This convent was founded in 1432 by Saint Colette of Corbie (1381-1447), reformer of the order of nuns of Saint Francis (Poor Clares), and by Clauda of Roussillon (Viscountess of Polignac).
The high walls of the monastery dominate the picturesque alleyways of this district, known as “ Pouzarot ” (short for “well of the rock” or “wheel well” according to the sources).
This is one of the oldest districts in the city of Puy-en-Velay . Remarkably restored, it has managed to retain its characteristic charm.
24) The College Church
This former chapel of the Jesuit college was built in 1605 by Martellange, the Jesuit architect . It is a fine example of Baroque - inspired architecture and the first church in France built in the Jesuit style . You will find beautiful altarpieces in the chancel, the first four side chapels, and the baptistery.
Throughout history, local artists have contributed to its beautification:
- the sculptor Pierre Vaneau (1653-1694) for the decoration of the pulpit;
- the Jesuit brother André Besqueut for the statue of St Jean-François Régis (in 1928);
- the sculptor Philippe Kaeppelin for the modern altar (in 1984);
- the painter Guy François (1578-1650) for the paintings of the choir and the first two side chapels.
25) The Statue of Our Lady of France
On September 8, 1855, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, General Pélissier was victorious during the Crimean War at the siege of Sevastopol. As a sign of gratitude, he advised Bishop de Morlhon to request from Emperor Napoleon III some of the cannons captured from the enemy to build the statue that the Diocese of Le Puy wished to dedicate to Our Lady of France.
Sculpted by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux , the statue, cast in iron from the 213 cannons of Sevastopol, was inaugurated on September 12, 1860, before 120,000 pilgrims. It measures 16 meters (22,70 with the pedestal) for a total weight of 835 tons (110 tons for the statue, 680 for the stone pedestal and 45 for its iron cladding).
26) The Rock and the Saint-Michel Chapel
Built on a old volcanic chimney, the Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe chapel culminates at 82 meters from above. There is something magical, between vertigo and serenity once you reach the summit. A technical and human feat, this sanctuary was consecrated in the 10th century by Godescalc then bishop of Puy and first French pilgrim around Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle.
The Romanesque chapel, with its intimate and mysterious atmosphere, houses over 1000 years of history . Due to the influx of pilgrims, the original square oratory was enlarged with an ambulatory nave that follows the contours of the rock.
Lulled by the colours of the stained glass windows, the chapel's murals are revealed and offered to visitors. They bear witness to the special care the chapel has received in light of the various restoration programmes of recent years. Once at the top, you will not be indifferent to the charm of the landscape that stretches as far as the eye can see over the Velay.
27) The Crozatier Museum
The Crozatier Museum, located in the heart of the magnificent Henri Vinay garden, was founded in 1820 and completely renovated in 2018. It contains 1001 curiosities: mummies, a carriage, taxidermied animals … and the famous Vercingetorix laying down his arms at Caesar’s feet.
It is a museum composed of 4 categories : archaeology, Velay crafts, fine arts and sciences.
28) The statue of General Lafayette
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) was born at the Château de Chavaniac, 40 km from Le Puy-en-Velay. He was a French officer and politician , famous for his involvement in the ranks of the American insurgent army, then in the liberal and reformist wing of the French aristocracy, and finally in the liberal opposition to the July Monarchy.
The statue was hidden and secured by local Resistance fighters during the Second World War.
29) The Pannessac Tower
This is the old royal gate of the city (14th century) which was partially demolished in 1850 to widen the street entrance. The location of the destroyed tower is marked by paving stones on the sidewalk.
Emperor Charlemagne and 13 Kings of France came on pilgrimage to Le Puy. Last royal visit: that of Francis I who came to Le Puy in 1533 to fulfill the vow he had made in Madrid while he was a prisoner of Charles V after the defeat at Pavia (1525).
30) Saint-Laurent Church
Enlarged in the 14th century, the building, one of the few remaining examples of Gothic architecture in the Velay region, saw its vault collapse in 1525. Then its bell tower was destroyed by the Huguenots in 1562 and the vault collapsed again in 1644.
In 1750, the exterior buttresses were built. Then, in 1966, cables were stretched between the pillars to prevent them from spreading apart. The church was finally closed to the public on August 24, 1971; the consolidation and subsequent restoration were lengthy processes, and it was not reopened for worship until the celebration of Christmas Mass in 1988.
Besides the striking beauty of the architecture, one can admire the skillfully restored 19th- century stained glass windows and those recently created (in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and the rose window of the facade), the magnificent woodwork (pulpits, stalls, etc.), paintings by Guy François , the most remarkable of which is “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas” and a paving of very original symbolism.
