was the bishopric of Velay. The cathedral dedicated to the Virgin was a major pilgrimage
center located on one of the main roads to
Le Puy (Haute-Loire), chapel of Saint-
Michel. Photograph courtesy of
William W.Kibler.
Santiago de Compostela. In 1254, Louis IX’s gift of the Black Virgin, obtained while on
crusade in the Holy Land, enhanced the religious significance of Le Puy.
The most notable architecture in Le Puy is the cathedral of Notre-Dame, which, along
with its subsidiary buildings—cloisters; baptistery, or chapel, of Saint-Jean; and chapter
house, or Salle des Morts—formed a fortified complex in the Middle Ages. The present
cathedral was built in the 11th and 12th centuries. The earlier part of the structure is the
simple cruciform plan formed by the apse, transept, and two eastern bays of the nave. At
the east end is a staged tower similar to the one at Saint-Martial, Limoges. The crossing
has an octagonal dome, and the nave bays are vaulted with octagonal domes on
squinches. In the 12th century, the nave was extended to form a substantial crypt porch
over the sloping site.
The cathedral has several features that indicate Moorish influence. The imposing west
façade with its steep steps leading to the deep porch has striped ashlar masonry, cusped
arches in the blind arcades, and wooden doors with Cufic inscriptions. The construction
of the squinches and the carving of about a hundred capitals also display Moorish stylistic
connections.
Several frescoes survive in the cathedral and cloisters. Two chapels in the apsidal
niches of the north transept have paintings of the three women at Christ’s sepulcher and
the martyrdom of St. Catherine. Lunettes with the Virgin Enthroned and the
Transfiguration are visible in the porch. The Salle des Morts just east of the cloisters
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1016