page_title: Le Puy Cathedral
section_title: Building description
hierarchical_section_title: Le Puy Cathedral / Building description
caption_attribution_description: English: The view looking out of the main entrance of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy.
context_page_description: 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 France's Santiago pilgrimage routes.
  It is the seat of the Bishop of Le Puy.
context_section_description: 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 construction, however, dates from the first half of the 12th century.
  Formerly, the visitor passed through a porch standing well out from the building and, after descending beneath the pavement, emerged by a stairway in front of the high altar. The principal stairway is now covered by a bold vaulting that serves as base for one half of the church.
  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 bays of the nave; above are three central windows that light the nave; above them are three gables, one the gable-end of the nave, flanked by two openwork screening gables. The south 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 crossing forming a lantern; the choir and transepts are barrel vaulted.
  The four galleries of the striking parti-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.
caption: View to the west from inside the main entrance. In the distance to the right stands the monumental statue of St. Joseph in Espaly-Saint-Marcel.
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