UNESCO World Heritage Site
Which site was the heritage designation of Le Puy Cathedral between Apr 1998 and Dec 1998?
Le Puy Cathedral Le Puy Cathedral ( ) , sometimes referred to as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation , is a Roman Catholic church located in Le Puy-en-Velay , Auvergne , France . The cathedral is a national monument . 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 . Since 1998 it has been part of a multi-location UNESCO World Heritage Site along Frances Santiago pilgrimage routes . It is the seat of the Bishop of Le Puy . The cathedral forms the highest point of the city , rising from the foot of the Rocher Corneille . Constructed over centuries , it contains architecture of every period from the 5th century to the 15th , which gives it an individual appearance . The bulk of the construction , however , dates from the first half of the 12th century . The Black Madonna and the pilgrimage . A town called Anicium existed on the site since at least the 6th century . Fragments of Roman temple sculpture were reused in the walls of the cathedral , and Roman funeral monuments , and Paleochristian sculpture other artifacts have been found nearby . These fragments mention the name of an early bishop , Scutaire , and date from late antiquity and the early Middle Ages . ( They are now found in the Crozatier Museum in Le Puy ) . Documents from the period indicate that the early Christian church contained a celebrated image of the Virgin Mary and child , made of ebony , according to some sources , The statue was dressed in gowns made of gold and other precious fabrics . The cult of the so-called Black Madonna was found in many other French churches of the time , and helped attract pilgrims . The original statue was destroyed in 1794 during the French Revolution , but many illustrations of it still exist . It was replaced in the 19th century by a new statue , now on the altar . Beginning in the 10th century Le Puy became a major stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral . With the influx of pilgrims , the size of the Cathedral chapter grew to forty priests , and the chapter constructed an Hôtel-Dieu or residence for impoverished pilgrims . A large number of chapels , convents , schools and other religious institutions were founded around the cathedral as a consequence of the pilgrimage . The Carolingian and Romanesque cathedral . The new cathedral and its cloister were built close to the old church , at the highest point in the town , next to a massive rock butte , the Corneille . The cloister was built like a fortress , surrounded by a wall and fortified gates . It was governed exclusively by the clergy , and even contained its own prison , in a stone tower . Excavations from 1992 to 1995 found vestiges of foundations of the earlier church , dating from the 9th century , These were reused in the 10th century for the construction of a larger church in the Carolingian style ; it had a nave and collateral aisles , covering three traverses ; a choir with two rectangular apse chapels attached to the lower side ; and a flat apse on the west end . Beginning in the mid-11th century , this church was enlarged further ; the choir was preserved , but a large transept was added , with tribunes covering the apse chapels . The wider new nave had four traverses . The rounded barrel vaults of the nave were supported by cross-shaped pillars for the central nave and double columns and pilasters for the transept . The crossing of the transept was covered with a dome , over which was constructed an octagonal lantern tower , The new cathedral , with a cloister , was built against a steep hillside , and a new point of access from the town below was needed . A new porch was built on the west side just below the cathedral , with a stairway leading up to the nave . In the 12th century , this lower porch was enlarged with the construction of two new chapels , and the portal was given large doorways of cedar wood , and the monumental west front covering the porch was constructed with a decoration of multicoloured stone . From the porch at the bottom to the nave at the top . All of the structure was decorated with multicolour stone and fresco painting . The second part of the 12th century saw the partial reconstruction of the walls of the nave , and the reconstruction of the Chapel of Saint Martin on the west side , plus the addition of cupolas which replaced the old vaults of the nave . The pointed Gothic arch made its first appearance , and new porches were added to the angles of the transept and chevet . As the pilgrimage flourished , the complex of church buildings was expanded around the cloister on the north side of the cathedral . This included rich sculptural and polychrome decoration of the galleries and walls , and the construction of a grim square new tower , the Saint-Mayol tower , which served as a prison for the chapter . This tower , except for the lower two levels , was demolished in 1948 . On the west side of the complex was the Hotel-Dieu , the massive guest house for poor pilgrims , and the building of the Machicoulis ( Named for its castle-like upper walls ) which was a depot and kitchen for the chapter and the large Hotel-de-Dieu next to it , as well as a defensive structure if needed . Each of the five stories of the building had its own entrances . To the east of the cloister , and north of the transept of the cathedral , was the chapter house , the headquarters and residence hall for clergy , built in the last part of the 12th century . The oldest structure to the east is a Romanesque portal with sculpture on Rue Grasmement dating to the mid-12th century , which was formerly the entrance of the medieval hospital , After 1375 , the west front had to be reinforced by a new buttress , and several of the vaults of the nave had to be rebuilt . In 1427 , an earthquake caused serious damage to the structure , and in 1527 , the vaults of the north transept had to be rebuilt . In 1516 lightning struck the bell tower , causing debris to fall onto the roof of the chapel of the Holy Crucifix below . Some modifications were made to the Romanesque features ; larger windows were installed north transept , and in the adjoining parts of the nave . The whole complex suffered from a lack of maintenance ; roofs leaked , damaging the masonry of the vaults below . 17th-18th centuries . In the 17th century , the bishop Armand de Bethune undertook renovations and a program of decoration in the more classical French style , with clear glass windows bringing more light and lavishly decorated furniture , as well as a new organ , a new pulpit , and a new bishops throne . He also constructed a monument to the King of Poland , John III Sobieski , a relative of the bishop who fought successfully against the Russians , the Swedes and the Turks . Between 1723 and 1727 , the Grand Altar of the Virgin was put into place . It is covered with plaques of coloured marble and decorated with sculpture by the Italian sculptor Caffieri , and now features a recreation of the statue of the original Black Madonna , destroyed during the French Revolution . At the end of the 18th century , the cathedral was in serious need of structural reinforcement and consolidation , as attested by the Director of Public works of Languedoc province . However , the Bishop Marie-Joseph de Galard chose instead to carry out a large-scale program of interior redecoration . He relocated the main stairway giving access to the building away from the nave to the cloister , where a new door was cut into the west wall . The medieval rood screen separating the choir and nave and surrounding choir screen were removed , and the interior was stripped of medieval decoration and redecorated with moulded plaster and false vaults , Some portions which were too difficult to remodel were simply abandoned ; the north transept was closed and the south transept was turned into a dormitory . 19th century . The French Revolution closed the cathedral and saw it deteriorate further . The new bishop , Msgr . Bonnard , did not take charge of the cathedral until 1823 . A program of renovation finally began in 1844 , under a new bishop , Msgr . Darcimolles , with the support of the Ministry of Cults of the French government . It was conducted by architect Aymond Gilbert Mallay , under the supervision of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc . Mallay proposed to demolish all of the recent reconstructions and to return the cathedral to its medieval appearance . He demolished the new bell tower that had been built over the transept , and completely reconstructed the transept and its vaults . He rebuilt the transept higher , with new pillars , and covered the vaults of the nave with Neo-Romanesque cupolas , though these had not existed before . He restored the old apse , and proposed that Neo-Romanesque murals should cover the interior of the transept . This last idea was vetoed by Prosper Merimée , the head of the French governments program to restore medieval landmarks . Mallay modified the stairway to the nave on north side and built a new stairway on the south side . In 1846 in 1846 he demolished the old west front and rebuilt it entirely , followed by the first two traverses of the nave . The cloister , next to the church was entirely redone between 1850 and 1852 . Mallay retired in 1853 , but his successors continued the project , demolishing the old chevet at the east end and replacing it with a new version that matched the transept and nave . They also demolished the Gothic sacristy , since it was not in harmony with Romanesque style . The last project was the bell tower , which was extensively modified and its upper three sections entirely rebuilt . 20th century . In 1905 the church officially became the property of the French State , with exclusive use granted to the Catholic Church . It retained its position important stop on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral , and was visited each year by thousands of pilgrims . In 1989 , the French state began a new program to clean and embellish the building . The windows were cleaned to bring in more light ; the old stairway , closed in the 18th century , was restored ; the choir was given a new altar ; the murals were cleaned and the organ was moved to a new tribune in the nave and restored in 1999 . In 2004 and 2005 the west front and its murals were also cleaned and restored . The cathedral . West front . The plan of the cathedral is largely determined by the steep slope upon which it is built . Before the end of the 19th century , access to the cathedral was by a steep narrow street lined with shops selling pilgrimage souvenirs , which led into a large space under the cathedral floor , and from which pilgrims mounted a separate stairway emerging near the altar . The current stairway was built at the end of the 19th century and goes directly up to the nave . The facade , or west front of the cathedral is in the form of a large arch of triumph , with three portals and three levels . The portals are considerably lower than the floor of the nave . It is constructed of white sandstone and dark volcanic stone , Through it passes a stairway of sixty steps that comes up from outside the cathedral through the entrance arcades and climbs to the level the nave . On the lowest level , the three portals open to the space beneath the first bays of the nave . The level above has three windows that give light to the nave ; at the top are three triangular frontons , or triangular gables . The window of the central fronton admits light to the nave , while the others have no glass and open onto the roof of the collateral aisles . West porch . To reach the nave of the church a visitor must walk up sixty steps on a monumental stairway from the street to the west porch , and then another sixty steps to the nave . The porch or terrace of the Cathedral was constructed in the 11th century on the site of the pre-Romanesque church . It was expanded in the mid-12th century when the church above was enlarged , and given massive pillars , columns and pilasters to form three traverses and three grand arcades . To reach the The west porch is like a church in itself beneath the cathedral , with some of the oldest and best-preserved original decoration . There are two chapels within the porch , dedicated to Saint Martin ( south side ) and Saint Luke ( north ) . Their facades are from the original 11th-century church , before the construction of the two western traverses in the mid-12th century . The cedar doors , the carved and painted doors to the porch , were installed at the end of the 12th century . An inscription in Latin on the walls of the stairway warns in impure not to enter . The frescoes from the 11th and 12th century decorate the chapels , particularly on the walls of the central stairway , in a Byzantine art style and dating to around 1200 . On the south wall is a Transfiguration scene depicting Christ with Moses and Elijah , and the apostles John , James , and Saint Peter at their feet . On the archway above them are frescoes of the dove of the Holy Spirit being presented by angels , and above that Saint Lawrence and Saint Stephen holding the palm fronds that identify martyrs . On the opposite wall of the stairway are frescoes from the same period depicting the Virgin Mary in majesty , on a seat representing wisdom , before a curtain held by angels and by the figures of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah . She presents her child before her . In 2004 , excavations of the porch uncovered additional 13th-century inscriptions and painted images of Saint Christopher , the patron saint of the pilgrims en route to Saint-Jacques do Campostelle . A stucco sculpture on another column depicts a tetramorph or image of a bull , the symbol of Saint Luke . While most of the vaults in the porch are the rounded Romanesque barrel vaults and groin vaults , the porch has several vaults with more pointed arches , a feature of Gothic architecture , added in later reconstructions of the 14th and 18th century . Porche du For or Papal Porch and the Porch Saint-John . While the traditional entrance to the church is through the west porch , the principal exit is through two portals on the northeast and southeast sides of the transept where it meets the chevet , at the east end . It is named for the Place du For , a square where the tribunal of the Cathedral was located . This entrance was reserved for royal or papal pilgrims , and was built largely of stones from the earlier Paleo-Christian cathedrals . On the lintel is an inscription SCUTARI PAPEVIVEDEO , probably for the Bishop Scutarius . On the inside of the portal is a reused Roman stone with an inscription honouring the Emperor Augustus and Adidon , probably the name of a local Roman deity . The other doorway , into the south arm of the transept , probably from the mid to late 12th century , and has very ornately carved capitals on the columns and the supports receiving the arches of the vaults depicting sirens and crowned heads . It also reemploys earlier stones ; some have vestiges of geometric designs painted in the 11th century . The porch Saint John is on the north side of the cathedral , close to the baptistry , and covers over a section of street between the cathedral and the baptistry . It was reserved for the entry of kings , princes , the Dauphin of the Viennois region , and the governors of the provinces of the Languedoc region . One of the doorways is walled up ; it formerly gave access to the north chapel in the chevet . The other doors , decorated with curling iron bars , open into the north transept . Above the doors there are the battered remains of a depiction of the Last Supper , with Christ in the centre . Christ also appears above , with angels on either side , with a backdrop of mosaics and small lobed circular openings . Nave . The nave is traditionally at the west end of the church , where the worshippers gather . separate from the choir at the east end , reserved for the clergy . At Le Puy the worshippers arrive at the nave by a stairway coming up from the west porch into the center of the church , at the fifth traverse , just west of the transept . The vessel of the nave has six traverses , each covered by a dome-like octagonal cupola supported by rounded arches upon massive trompes , or supporting pillars , at their angles . Alongside the central vessel there are two collateral aisles . Over the crossing of the nave and transept there s a lantern tower on top of the cupola . Choir , transept and chevet . The choir , to the east of the nave , is the portion of the cathedral reserved for the clergy . The original choir was of modest size and had a relatively low ceiling . It was entirely rebuilt beginning in 1865 in a Neo-Romanesque style , with the height increased to twenty meters to match the nave , and given more abundant decoration , including of gilded palm leaves on the cornices , and marble and granite columns with gilded capitals . A large bay and window was opened to the east , and the choir was decorated with polychrome painting in the vaults and pastels on the walls . One remaining element of the 17th-century decoration is a carved and gilded panel of a scene from the life of Saint Andrew , by Pierre Vaneau , from the 17th century . Nearly all of the transept was torn down n 1844 and then rebuilt to its original proportions , but with new decoration . The only surviving portion of the old transept is at the extreme north end , which retains some Romanesque frescoes . The chevet , or east end of the cathedral , was entirely rebuilt beginning in 1865 , along with the choir , to bring it to the same height as the nave , and with a large window . It was made in the Neo-Romanesque style , with colourful mosaics and arches around the new windows . The base of the chevet , near the well of cathedral , was decorated with sculpture and inscriptions from the early Romanesque cathedral . Organ . The organ was installed in the nave in 1689 . It has two faces , and was made by Jean Eustache , with woodwork by Gabriel Alignon and sculpture by Francois Tireman and Pierre Vaneau . It was restored in 1827 and was classified as an historic monument in 1862 . Bell tower and Chapel of the Holy Saviour . The bell tower is seven stories or fifty-six meters high , and stands apart from the east end of the choir . Each of the square stories is slightly smaller than the one below . The lowest level of the tower dates to the first cathedral of the 11th century , and originally had large arcades open to the exterior , that were later filled with stone as the chapel rose higher . The tower originally had a military as well as a religious function ; the cathedral was required to have city watchmen stationed at the top of the tower , and the tower was crowned with a statue of a cock , a symbol of municipal authority Because of the military importance of the tower in surveilling the surrounding countryside for approaching enemies , the tower was spared destruction during the French Revolution . In the 12th century , the arches of the tower base were filled with stone , and it was expanded with the addition of a chapel , The Chapel of the Holy Saviour . The chapel is covered with a vault forming a quarter of a sphere , and is used as a crypt for the sarcophagi of bishops and canons of the cathedral . These sarcophagi , set into niches in the walls , are covered with images of the persons and are surrounded by sculpted arches and decoration . The levels of the tower are decorated by a series of bays and arches and have vivid sculpture of the period . In the 19th century , the top three levels of the tower were reconstructed , preserving their original form . Some of the original sculptures were replaced with copies and the originals put on display in the Crozatier Museum . In the 17th century , the tower housed twelve bells at the top . Today there are just four . The oldest and largest , with the deepest voice , is the bourdon , made in 1788 and named Marie-Joseph , the first name of Bishop de Galard , who commissioned it . The cloister . The four galleries of the multi--coloured cloister were constructed from the Carolingian period to the 12th century . It is connected to the remains of 13th-century fortifications that separated the cathedral precincts from the rest of the city . Near the cathedral , the 11th-century baptistry of Saint John is built on Roman foundations . The chapter buildings and the Chapel of the Dead . The buildings of the Cathedral chapter , or members of the clergy , are placed to the east and west of the cloister . On the west side is the building of the Machicoulis , named for the battlements around the top of building , traditionally used to drop objects on attackers . In this case , the name is purely symbolic . The lower four levels were built in the 12th century , while the top level and battlements dates to the early 13th century . It served as a meeting place , school , dining hall , library , treasury and chapel for the large number of clergy at the cathedral . In 1975 , one space was designated the Chapel of relics , and dedicated to the display of the cathedrals collection of sacred relics . The former refectory , or dining hall , became a gallery for the display of the cathedrals collection of religious art . At one time a gallery at the top connected the terrace to the nearby tower of Saint Mayol . On the east side of the cloister is a large hall with a high arched ceiling , which opens onto th cloister . This was the chapter meeting hall , and is called the Chapel of the Dead , for the funeral monuments of notable clerics around its walls . The south wall has a large mural , painted in about 1200 , depicting the Crucifixion , with images of Saint Mary , Sant John , the sun , moon , angels and prophets . It was painted , according to an inscription in Latin on the wall , in less than one hundred days . The style of the painting illustrates the evolution of painting from the Byzantine to the style of Gothic art . The baptistry ( Church of Saint John ) . The Church of Saint John is on the northeast side of the cathedral , and is connected to it by the porch of Saint-John . It served as baptistry of the parish until the French Revolution , It is at least as old as the cathedral itself , with portions , such as the apse , chevet , and parts of the walls on the north and south of the first traverse , which have been dated to between the 5th and 6th centuries by studies in 2004 . Vestiges of the early baptismal font were also discovered . The church was heavily restored in the 19th century . The treasury – art and sculpture . Apart from the Romanesque frescos , the cathedral contains some notable works of painting and sculpture , largely from the 15th to 17th century . They are displayed in the Salles des Etats du Velay , in the sacristy of the Cathedral . Works of art include The Holy Family by Barthelemy dEyck ( 1450–1480 ) . The cathedral also holds the Courgard-Fruman collection of more than three hundred liturgical vestments from different periods and countries , displaying their rich and varied embroidery . Seventy-six examples are on display in the Salle des Etats de Velay . Another group of notable paintings are found in the Chapter Hall , on the walls of the library . They were commissioned by the head of the Chapter in 1501 , with figures of women depicting the liberal arts ; grammar , logic , rhetoric , and music , with and notable artists or scholars from each field . UNESCO Site . The cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 , as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France .