Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy & Rocher Corneille
Perched on a sheer plug of volcanic basalt 80 metres above the old town, Le Puy's Romanesque cathedral is one of the great pilgrimage churches of medieval Europe and the official starting point of the Via Podiensis — the most-walked route to Santiago de Compostela. The giant red-painted statue of Notre-Dame de France crowning the adjacent Rocher Corneille is visible from every corner of the city a
A Cathedral Built into the Rock
The cathedral's nave is literally embedded into the volcanic neck below it: pilgrims once climbed a grand staircase straight through the west facade and emerged inside the church — an architectural feat that still astonishes engineers today. The polychrome stonework, alternating bands of dark basalt and pale limestone, gives the facade a striped, almost Moorish character unique in France.
Inside, look for the Black Madonna on the high altar — a 19th-century replacement of a medieval statue burned during the Revolution — and the extraordinary 12th-century frescoes in the transept chapels. The cloister adjoining the north side is a masterpiece of Romanesque decorative carving, its columns inlaid with geometric mosaics.
Climbing Rocher Corneille
A short but steep path from the cathedral square winds up to the base of the 16-metre cast-iron statue, which was cast in 1860 from 213 cannons captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. You can climb inside the hollow statue and poke your head out at shoulder level for a vertiginous bird's-eye view over the cathedral roof and the volcanic peaks of the Velay.
The best light for photography is mid-morning, when the sun catches the red-painted iron and the surrounding plains are still misty. On clear days you can spot the Dôme volcanic chain far to the northwest.
More of Le Puy-en-Velay
Discover where to stay, what to do and the best deals for your trip.
Explore Le Puy-en-Velay →
