Le Puy-en-Velay (
Lo Puèi de Velai in
OccitanOccitan , known also as Lenga d'òc in Occitan or Langue d'oc in French is a Romance language spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain...
, pronounced [lu/lə ˈpœj də ˈvəlaj]) is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in the
Haute-LoireHaute-Loire is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.-History:Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
department in south-central
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Its inhabitants are called
Ponots.
History
Le Puy-en-Velay was a major
bishopricIn some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
in medieval France, founded early, though its early history is legendary. According to a
martyrologyA martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs , arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring Churches...
compiled by Ado of Vienne and published in many copies in 858, which was supplemented in the mid-10th century by Gauzbert of Limoges, a certain priest named George accompanied a certain Front, the first Bishop of Périgueux, when they were sent to proselytize in
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
. Front was added to the list of the apostles to Gaul, traditionally sent out to reorganize Christians after the persecutions that are associated with
DeciusGaius Messius Quintus Decius was the Emperor of Rome from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until both of them were killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...
and
GratianFlavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383....
, circa 250. As with others of the group, notably
Saint MartialSaint Martial was the first bishop of Limoges in today's France, according to a lost vita of Saturnin, first bishop of Toulouse, which Gregory of Tours quotes in his History of the Franks.-Life:...
of
LimogesLimoges is a city and commune in France, the préfecture of the Haute-Vienne département, and the administrative capital of the Limousin région....
, later
mythologyChristian mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Christianity. Many Christians believe that these narratives are sacred and that they communicate profound truths...
pushed Saint Front and the priest George back in time, and tells how George had been restored to life with a touch of
Saint PeterSimon Peter , Pétros “Rock”, Kephas in Hellenized Aramaic) was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee...
's staff. The expanding legend of this St. George, which, according to the Church historian Duchesne is not earlier than the eleventh century, then makes that saint one of the Seventy Apostles of the
Gospel of LukeThe Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
, and tells how he founded the church of the
[civitas] que dicitur Vetula in pago Vellavorum— as
Ruessium began to be called during the fourth century: the city "called Vetula in the
pays of the
VellaviThe Vellavi were a Gaulish people in the region of Le Puy-en-Velay in the region of the Auvergne, which, at the time of Julius Caesar's campaigns against the Gaul lay on the border of Gallia Narbonensis...
" a document of 1004 termed it.
Vetula means "the old woman": pagans were still making small images of her as late as the sixth century in Flanders, according to the
vita of Saint
EligiusEligius may refer to:* Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen , known als Friedrich Halm, Austrian dramatist, poet and short-story writer* Eligius Fromentin , American politician...
. This was the first cathedral at Le Puy.
Following St. George the founder, later medieval local traditions evoke a legendary list of bishops at this chief town of the
pays of Le Velay: Macarius, Marcellinus, Roricius, Eusebius, Paulianus, and Vosy (Evodius), all of them canonized by local veneration. It will have been from Bishop Paulianus that the Gaulish settlement of Ruessium/Vellavorum received its Christianizing name, Saint-Paulien. A bishop Evodius attended the Council of Valence in 374.
Our Lady of Le Puy
The
ChristianizationThe historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting native pagan practices and culture, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses, due...
legends of
Mons Anicius relate that at the request of Bishop Martial of Limoges, Bishop Evodius/Vosy caused an altar to the Virgin Mary to be erected on the pinnacle that surmounts Mont Anis. Some such beginning of the shrine Christianized the pagan site that became the altar site of the
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Le Puy. It marked one starting-point for the pilgrim route to
Santiago de CompostelaSantiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the north west of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, it was a "European City of Culture" for the year 2000...
, a walk of some 1600 km, as it still does today. The old town of Le Puy gathered round the base of the cathedral.
The pilgrims came early to Le Puy, and no French pilgrimage was more frequented in the Middle Ages.
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe...
came twice, in 772 and 800; there is a legend that in 772 he established a foundation at the cathedral for ten poor canons (
chanoines de paupérie), and he chose Le Puy, with
AachenAachen is a historic spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the medieval Kings of Germany...
and
Saint-Gilles-Belgium:* Saint-Gilles is the French name for a municipality in the bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. Its Dutch name is Sint-Gillis.-Canada:* Saint-Gilles, a parish in Quebec* Val-Saint-Gilles, a municipality in Quebec-France:...
, as a center for the collection of
Peter's PencePeter's Pence# An ancient payment made more or less voluntarily to Rome, begun under the Saxons in England and seen also in other countries. Formally discontinued in England at the Reformation....
.
Charles the BaldCharles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.- Struggle against his brothers :He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...
visited Le Puy in 877,
Odo, count of ParisOdo was King of Western Francia . He was a son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, and is sometimes referred to as duke of France and also as count of Paris...
in 892,
Robert IIRobert II , called the Pious or the Wise, was King of France from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine....
in 1029, Philip Augustus in 1183.
Louis IXLouis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet, the son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile...
met
James I of AragonJames I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276...
here in 1245; and in 1254 passing through Le Puy on his return from the Holy Land, he gave to the cathedral an ebony image of the Blessed Virgin clothed in gold brocade, one of the many dozens of venerable "Black Virgins" of France: it was destroyed at the Revolution, but replaced at the Restoration with a copy that continues to be venerated. After him, Le Puy was visited by
Philip the BoldPhilip the Bold can refer to:* Philip the Bold, also known as Philip II Duke of Burgundy * Philip III of France...
in 1282, by Philip the Fair in 1285, by
Charles VICharles VI , called the Well-loved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois.-Early life:...
in 1394, by
Charles VIICharles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France from Paris.He was a member of the House of Valois, the son of Charles VI, but his...
in 1420, and by
Isabelle RoméeIsabelle Romée, also known as Isabelle de Vouthon and Isabelle d'Arc and Ysabeau Romee, was the mother of Joan of Arc. She was a native of Vouthon-Bas, a village near Domrémy-la-Pucelle where she and her husband Jacques d'Arc settled. Together they owned about of land and a modest house...
, the mother of
Joan of ArcSaint Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France and a Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, claiming divine guidance, and was indirectly responsible for the coronation of Charles VII...
in 1429.
Louis XILouis XI , called the Prudent and the Universal Spider or the Spider King, was the King of France from 1461 to 1483...
made the pilgrimage in 1436 and 1475, and in 1476 halted three leagues from the city and went to the cathedral barefooted.
Charles VIIICharles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
visited it in 1495,
Francis IFrancis I , was king of France from 1515 until his death.Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch. His reign saw France make immense cultural advances...
in 1533.
The legendary early shrine on the summit of
Mons Anicius that drew so many would seem to predate the founding of an early church of Our Lady of Le Puy at Anicium, which was attributed to Bishop Vosy, who transferred the episcopal see from Ruessium to Anicium. Crowning the hill there was a
megalithA megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the...
ic
dolmenA dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone . Most date from the early Neolithic period...
. A local tradition rededicated the curative virtue of the sacred site to Mary, who cured ailments by contact with the standing stone. When the founding bishop Vosy climbed the hill, he found that it was snow-covered in July; in the snowfall the tracks of a deer round the dolmen outlined the foundations of the future church. The Bishop was apprised in a vision that the angels themselves had dedicated the future cathedral to the Blessed Virgin, whence the epithet "Angelic" given to the cathedral of Le Puy. The great
dolmenA dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone . Most date from the early Neolithic period...
was left standing in the center of the Christian sanctuary, which was constructed around it; the stone was re-consecrated as the Throne of Mary. By the eighth century, however, the 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 Angélique, or the "angels' chamber."
It is impossible to say whether this St. Evodius is the same who signed the decrees of the
Council of ValenceThe Council of Valence may refer to several events held at Valence.* The First Council of Valence held in 374.* The Second Council of Valence held in 529.* The Third Council of Valence held in 585.* The Fourth Council of Valence held in 855....
in 374. Neither can it be affirmed that St. Benignus, who in the seventh century founded a hospital at the gates of the basilica, and St. Agrevius, the 7th-century martyr from whom the town of Saint-Agrève Chiniacum took its name, were really bishops. Duchesne thinks that the chronology of these early bishops rests on very little evidence and that very ill-supported by documents; before the 10th century only six individuals appear of whom it can be said with certainty that they were bishops of Le Puy. The first of these, Scutarius, the legendary architect of the first cathedral, dates, if we may trust the inscription which bears his name, from the end of the 4th century.
Adhemar, bishop of Le PuyAdhemar de Monteil , one of the principal figures of the First Crusade, was bishop of Puy-en-Velay from before 1087...
was a central figure in the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by European Christians to regain the Holy Lands taken by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. It was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to the appeal from Byzantine...
.
Pope Clement IVPope Clement IV , born Gui Faucoi called in later life le Gros , was elected Pope February 5, 1265, in a conclave held at Perugia that took four months, while cardinals argued over whether to call in Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France , to carry on the...
was also bishop of Le Puy.
Though the ancient
dioceseIn some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
was suppressed by the
Concordat of 1801The Concordat of 1801 is a reflection of an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII that reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and restored some of its civil status....
, it was re-erected in 1823.
Main sights
Le Puy-en-Velay's most striking attraction is the
Cathédrale Notre-Dame du PuyLe Puy Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France, in Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne. It has been a centre of pilgrimage in its own right since before the time of Charlemagne, as well as forming part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela...
, dating chiefly from the first half of the 12th century. 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
baysA bay is a unit in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outside edges of an engaged column, pilaster, post, or vertical wall area...
of the
naveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
; above are three central windows that light the nave; above are three gables on the gable-end of the nave, flanked by two openwork screening gables. The south
transeptFull descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.
For the periodical go to The 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
crossingA crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
forming a lantern; the choir and transepts are
barrel vaultA barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
ed. The striking parti-colored cloister is connected to remains of fortifications of the 13th century that separated the cathedral precincts from the rest of the city. Near the cathedral, the 11-century
baptisteryIn Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistery may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
of St John is built on Roman foundations.
The
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
statue of
Notre-Dame de France overlooking the town was designed by French sculptor
Jean-Marie BonnassieuxJean-Marie Bienaimé Bonnassieux was a French sculptor.The son of a cabinet maker from Lyon, Bonnassieux showed talent as a boy and was educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, under Augustin-Alexandre Dumont. In 1836 he was the co-winner of the Prix de Rome...
, and is made from 213
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n
cannonA cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s taken in the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855). It was presented to the town on the 12th of September 1860 in front of 120,000 people.
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 FranceIn 1998, several sites in France were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites under the description: Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France....
".
Sights
Three miles from Le Puy are the ruins of the Château de Polignac, one of the most important feudal strongholds.
Notable people
- Peire Cardenal
Peire Cardenal or Cardinal was a troubadour known for his satirical sirventes and his dislike of the clergy...
, (1180-1278), Occitan troubadourA troubadour was a composer and performer of Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
- Marquis de La Fayette, 1757-1834, born at the Château de Chavagnac a few kilometres away from Le-Puy-en-Velay. He is known, among other things, for his action during the War of Independence of the United States of America.
- Pierre Julien
Pierre Julien was a French sculptor who worked in a full range of rococo and neoclassical styles.He served an early apprenticeship at Le Puy, near his natal village of Saint-Paulien, then at the École de dessin of Lyon, then entered the Parisian atelier of Guillaume Coustou the Younger...
, (1731-1804), French neoclassicalNeoclassicism is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture...
sculptor.
- Charles Dupuy
Charles Alexandre Dupuy was a French statesman, three times prime minister.-Biography:He was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne, where his father was a minor official. After a period as a professor of philosophy in the provinces, he was appointed a school inspector, thus obtaining a...
, (1851-1923), French politician, president of the Concil at several times during the Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France between the end of the Second French Empire in 1870 and the Vichy Regime after the invasion of France by the German...
.
- Émile Reynaud, whose family comes from Le-Puy-en-Velay, settled there during many years and did lectures of scientific vulgarisation with projections in 1875 there which were very appreciated by the local population.
- Courtol, (1834-1902), hunter of viper
The Viperidae are a family of venomous snakes found all over the world, except in Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Madagascar, Hawaii and the Arctic Circle. All have relatively long hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of venom...
s.
- Jules Vallès
Jules Vallès was a French journalist and author.-Early life:Vallès was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. His father was a supervisor of studies , later a teacher, and unfaithful to Jules' mother. Jules was a brilliant student...
, (1832-1885), born in Le Puy. He was a writer and a journalist. His most famous book is L'Enfant.
- Grégory Coupet
Grégory Coupet is a French football goalkeeper currently playing for Paris Saint Germain in France.- Club career :...
, football player, goalkeeper of Atletico Madrid and of the French national team.
- Sidney Govou
Sidney Govou is a French footballer of Beninese descent, currently playing for the French national team. Govou is a naturally attacking player but rarely plays as a striker, he is more commonly deployed as a winger. His main attributes are his pace and technique...
, football player at Olympique LyonnaisOlympique Lyonnais is a French football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1....
and selected in the French national team.
- Jérémy Perbet
Jérémy Perbet is a French football striker currently playing for AFC Tubize on loan from RC Strasbourg. He spent the 2006-07 season on loan to R. Charleroi S.C. in the Belgian Jupiler League.- External links :***...
, football player. Plays for the RC StrasbourgRacing Club de Strasbourg is a French football club founded in 1906 and professional since 1933, based in the city of Strasbourg, in Alsace. They currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football, having been relegated from Ligue 1 at the conclusion of the 2007–08 season...
in the French Ligue 2Ligue 2 is the second division of French football. It is one of two divisions making up the LFP, the other being Ligue 1, which is France's top division.The 20 clubs that make up Ligue 2 play each other twice during the season, creating a 38-match schedule...
.
- Julien Malzieu
Julien Malzieu born 4 May 1983 in Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France is a rugby union and sevens player for ASM Clermont Auvergne in the Top 14 competition.Julien Malzieu's position of choice is as a wing and he can also operate as a centre....
, rugby union player with ASM Clermont AuvergneAssociation Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club AS Montferrandaise, which was founded in 1911 and...
and the French national teamThe France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship...
.
- Bruno Julliard
Bruno Julliard is the chairman of the UNEF, the main student union in France. He studies public law at the University of Lyon....
, chairman of the UNEFThe National Union of Students of France is the main national students' union in France....
who was put in the spotlight during the national social movement of French students against the CPEThe contrat première embauche , translated first employment contract, was a new form of employment contract pushed in spring 2006 in France by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin...
law in 2006. The former mayor of Le Puy-en-Velay, Arlette Arnaud-Landau, is his mother.
- Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 1. She has won five Women's Tennis Association titles, and was runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. As of October 12 2009, Bartoli is ranked World No.12.-Early Life and Personal Life:Bartoli was born on 2...
, tennis player, 2007 Wimbledon finalist and top 10 player.
Twin cities
Le-Puy-en-Velay is twinned with the following towns:
MeschedeMeschede is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis.-Geography:Meschede is situated in the Ruhr valley, near to the Hennesee, south of the nature-park Arnsberger Wald...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
TonbridgeTonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately four miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 25 miles south east of London...
.
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
TortosaTortosa is the capital of the comarca of Baix Ebre, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain, located at 12 metres above the sea, by the Ebre river...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
BrugherioBrugherio is a comune in the Province of Monza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 14 km northeast of Milan. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 32,724 and an area of 10.3 km²....
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
MangualdeMangualde is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 219.3 km² and a total population of 21,158 inhabitants. The city itself has a population of 6,695.The municipality is composed of 18 parishes and is located in the district Viseu....
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
Miscellaneous
Le Puy is famous for a particular strain of green
lentilThe lentil or daal or dal , considered a type of pulse, is a bushy annual plant of the legume family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds...
s, for its lace-making, and for its green liqueur "Verveine" flavored with
verbenaVerbena is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 250 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the New World from Canada south to southern Chile, but some are also native in the Old World, mainly in Europe....
.
The lentils, grown on the thin soils of the area, are very small and almost black in colour. Their unique quality and flavour derive from their high protein and relatively low carbohydrate content. They are widely used in soups and also to accompany goose, duck and sausage dishes. Le Puy lentils (Lentilles du Puy) is an appellation recognised throughout the European Union.
The town holds a famous Jubilee in years when the feast of the
AnnunciationThe Annunciation is, in Christianity, the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God...
falls on
Good FridayGood Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday, is a holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary...
.
The Jubilee of Le Puy
in French Wikipedia. This occurred last in 2005, will occur next in 2025 but the subsequent occurrence will not be until 2157. The Jubilee of Le Puy is the oldest aside from those of Rome and Jerusalem, taking its original cue from the predictions of a monk Bernhard who predicted the
end of the worldEschatology is a part of theology and philosophy concerned with what are believed to be the final events in the history of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world...
in 992 when the feast of the
AnnunciationThe Annunciation is, in Christianity, the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God...
would fall on
Good FridayGood Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday, is a holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary...
. The number of pilgrims to Le Puy was so remarkable that, after the dread date had safely passed,
Pope John XVJohn XV , Pope from 985 to 996, succeeding Boniface VII . It was said to have been Pope after another Pope John that reigned four months after Pope John XIV and was named "Papa Ioannes XIV Bis" or "Pope John XIV Two"...
declared that each such date would be marked by a Jubilee.The first such anniversary occurred in 1065. In the Jubilee of 1407, the press of the crowd was so great that two hundred pilgrims suffocated. Of three Jubilees in the twentieth century, the Jubilee of 1932 attracted over 300,000 pilgrims.
Le Puy has hosted Le Tour de France on six occasions. In 1954, it was the finish town of stage 15, from
MillauMillau is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is located at the confluence of the Tarn and Dourbie rivers.-History:...
, which was won by Dominique Forlini. The next day, Jean Forestier won the race from Le Puy to
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
. The race would not return until 1990, when the riders retraced their predecessors steps towards Millau. Marino Lejarreta won the day. In 1996 the town would again host two stages, stage 12 from Valence, won by
Pascal RichardPascal Richard is a French-speaking Swiss former racing cyclist. He is most notable as a former King of the Mountains winner at the Giro d'Italia and Olympic Games gold medalist.-Biography:...
, and stage 13 to Super-Besse, won by Rolf Sorensen. Most recently,
Giuseppe GueriniGiuseppe Guerini is an Italian professional road bicycle racer.A native of Gazzaniga, Lombardy, he currently rides with the T-Mobile Team and has done so since 1999. He has, however, been a professional cyclist since 1993 - being a member of two other teams: Navigare and Polti...
won the stage from
IssoireIssoire is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-Geography:Issoire is located on the Couze River, near its junction with the Allier, SSE of Clermont-Ferrand on the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway to Nîmes...
in 2005.
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