Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation du Puy-en-Velay

Le Puy-en-Velay

It is from the forecourt of this cathedral that the Via Podiensis sets off, today the busiest of the four great French routes to Compostela: Godescalc, bishop of Le Puy, inaugurated it himself, in a sense, in 950–951, by becoming the first French pilgrim whose journey to Santiago is documented. A thousand years later, walkers on the GR 65 still receive the pilgrims' blessing every morning before descending the rue des Tables. The Romanesque building of the 11th–12th centuries, whose domes and polychrome voussoirs betray Byzantine and Hispano-Moorish influences, is among the monuments inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998 as part of the "Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France". It houses the Black Virgin of Le Puy, one of the most famous in France: the medieval statue, burnt in the public square on 8 June 1794 during the Revolution, was replaced in the 19th century by the present statue, still carried in procession through the town every 15 August. And whenever the feast of the Annunciation (25 March) falls on Good Friday, the cathedral opens a Jubilee that has drawn crowds since the Middle Ages — the last was held in 2016, the next will not come until 2157.

Cathédrale du Puy-en-Velay — Histoire du monument ↗

Getting there : Free admission, active place of worship, historic centre of Le Puy-en-Velay

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound