Page 342 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Did You Know?
Isabelle Romée,the
mother of Joan of Arc,
is said to have visited
St-Michel d’Aighilhe
in 1429.

Bird’s-eye view of Le Puy, with
the Chapelle St-Michel d’Aiguilhe
soaring abovethe town

1
LE PUY-EN-VELAY

! E5 ⌂ Haute-Loire k £ @ n 2 pl de Clauzel; www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr
Teetering on a series of rocky outcrops and basalt pillars within a volcanic cone, Le Puy-
en-Velay is one of France’s most dramatic sights and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Each of the town’s three peaks is topped by a landmark church or statue.

Le Puy is famous for its eponymous lentils, lacemaking and for
being one of the starting points of the pilgrimage to Santiago
de Compostela. Among the first pilgrims was the town’s
bishop, Gotescalk, who made the journey in 950 and built
the Chapelle St-Michel d’Aiguilhe in 962. Seeming to
grow out of a giant finger of lava rock and reached by a
steep climb, the church is thought to be located on the
site of a Roman temple to Mercury. Before setting off,
pilgrims used to assem ble at the Cathédrale de Notre-
Dame, perched on the town’s second peak, with its
famous Black Madonna and “fever stone” – a Druidic
cere monial stone. Worth a visit is the Musée Crozatier,
in the lower city, which has a collection of handmade
lace from the 16th century to the present.

The 1860 Notre-Dame-de-France statue, set
atop Le Puy’s third hill, the Rocher Corneille
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