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Cathedral Notre Dame of Puy-en-Velay

Cathedral Notre Dame of Puy-en-Velay

Recommended by 217 hikers out of 220

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Location: Le Puy-En-Velay, Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne Rhône Alpes, France

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Best Hikes to Cathedral Notre Dame of Puy-en-Velay

4.8

(17)

116

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1. Chemin de Compostelle: return trip to Chapelle Saint-Roch from Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy-en-Velay – Departure from Aiguilhe car park

33.6km

09:22

630m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Expert

4.6

(23)

190

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2. Chapelle Saint-Michel – Statue de Notre-Dame de France loop from Le Puy-en-Velay

6.47km

01:53

170m

Intermediate hike. Great for any fitness level. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

4.8

(16)

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3. Chapelle Saint-Michel – Forteresse de Polignac loop from Le Puy-en-Velay

11.7km

03:25

320m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

Tips

SimonWicart

September 21, 2023

A major religious building in Puy-en-Velay, Notre-Dame Cathedral offers at 7 a.m., every day from April 1 to October 31 and at 7:30 a.m., Monday to Friday, from November 1 to March 31, the blessing of pilgrims. Whether you are walking towards Compostela or not, this stop is a must in the city.

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Karsten S.

September 30, 2020

The oldest parts of the choir date from the second half of the 11th century. The building stands out not only because of its lofty location, but also because of its magnificent facade. Work has been going on on the three-aisled Romanesque nave since the 12th century.

At that time, a new building was created according to a plan that was outdated for the time, with a four-bay, barrel-vaulted nave with a huge transept, which also received vaults and galleries on the front side, and a long choir with a semicircular interior and a square exterior. Probably out of respect for the sanctity of the place, the choir shape of the previous building was retained. In the course of the 12th century the barrels were replaced by domes.

The increase in the number of pilgrims in the second half of the 12th century made it necessary to enlarge the church. The sacred character of the apse forbade expansion to the east where there was no lack of space. Therefore, the new building was extended to the west by two additional bays.

The important cathedral with its early Christian décor, some of which was probably derived from Islamic sources, was the victim of a radical and catastrophic reconstruction in the 19th century.

In a process in which each step inevitably led to the next, the architect Mallay reconstructed the crossing dome and crossing tower, the last two domes of the nave, the southern arm of the transept and the upper part of the northern one, from 1884 onwards , finally the two western bays and the facade. From 1865 to 1866 the choir was demolished and arbitrarily reconstructed.

Between 1844 and 1888 it was the turn of the tower built in the 12th century east of the choir. Its restoration meant rebuilding from the second floor. Ultimately, only the third and fourth nave yoke escaped the serious intervention. They have been restored but not reconstructed.

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BikepackingFrance

March 22, 2021

The Notre-Dame du Puy-en-Velay cathedral is a major monument of Romanesque art and of the Christian West. It was erected as a minor basilica by an apostolic brief from Pius IX on February 11, 1856. Its full title is Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation du Puy-en-Velay.

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Elevation 670 m

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Location: Le Puy-En-Velay, Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne Rhône Alpes, France

Cathedral Notre Dame of Puy-en-Velay

1. Chemin de Compostelle: return trip to Chapelle Saint-Roch from Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy-en-Velay – Departure from Aiguilhe car park

2. Chapelle Saint-Michel – Statue de Notre-Dame de France loop from Le Puy-en-Velay

3. Chapelle Saint-Michel – Forteresse de Polignac loop from Le Puy-en-Velay

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