Cathédrale Notre-Dame et ses dépendances

English translation

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History

University of Saint-Mayeul: dating unspecified. Cathedral: 10th century, 19th century. Buildings of machicolations and cloister: 12th century, 13th century. The episcopal seat was transferred from Saint-Paulien to Le Puy in the course of the 7th century. The church of Le Puy was built on a pagan sanctuary by bishop Scutaire before 493. From 1020, pilgrimages were frequent. The town renounced its name of Anicium to take that of Puy-Sainte-Marie. The present cathedral was built on the site of a rectangular basilica whose apse was to present internally seven facets with a succession of blind arcades. The supports of the arches were probably monolithic columns in granite or marble. Coverings of mortars decorated with meanders and ovae moulded in relief seem to have covered the interior walls. The wall was crowned by large pieces carved with an antique cornice. This destroyed chevet dates back to the end of the 11th century. The building underwent several restorations from the 14th century onwards. During the Revolution, altars and objects of worship are destroyed. In 1840, the cathedral was threatening to collapse. In 1865-1866, Mimey carried out works which revealed the remains of an earlier church. Everything was rebuilt, except for the third and fourth bays, and part of the north transept. Apart from the chevet and the central tower, rebuilt in a fanciful manner by architects Mimey and Mallay, the indications provided by the primitive structures appear to have been followed fairly well. The cathedral is composed of a nave of six bays flanked by aisles vaulted with groins, a transept terminated at each extremity by two twin absidioles and a square chevet. Each bay of the nave is covered by an octagonal barlong dome borne on pendentives. The cathedral was built in three phases. The oldest part comprises the chevet, the transept and the two final bays. Towards the middle of the 12th century, the building is enlarged. The third and fourth bays date from this period. Improvements are made to the structure and the pointed arch appears. The most recent part of the cathedral begins from the second bay, posterior by a quarter of a century to the previous one. The plan of the pillars becomes cruciform. The sculpture of the capitals is fairly simple. In the two oldest parts, these are leaves and interlaces, men or animals amid vegetation, serpents or basilisks drinking from a vessel. At the two first bays, the sculpture becomes more complicated. Some remains of mural paintings at the upper storey of the north arm of the transept. Along the north wall of the cathedral is built a rectangular cloister, profoundly remodelled. The southern gallery was demolished in the 18th century and the exterior part was almost entirely rebuilt. The other parts underwent only remodelling. The cloister opens onto a courtyard by five arcades on the two smallest sides and by ten on the longer sides. The wall which surmounts the archivolts is decorated with a mosaic formed of a succession of white, black and red lozenges. The galleries date back to the 11th and 12th centuries. The capitals are ornamented with foliage and historical scenes.