Le Puy en Velay - Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Puy

Since the early (even pre-Christian) times Le Puy has been a center of pilgrimage. From the 11th century on, this was one of the points from where pilgrims started their way to Santiago de Compostella. I had walked through Le Puy, when I had started in Geneva in 2008 - and I remember my feelings, when I saw the peaks the first time - in pouring rain.

Inside the Cathedral Notre-Dame (12th century) is a statue of a Black Virgin, but that is a copy. The miraculous original Black Virgin, given to the cathedral by Louis IX (Saint-Louis) on his return from Egypt (7th cruisade), statue was burnt by furious revolutionists just outside the cathedral.

This may have led to the erection of "Notre-Dame de France" on the top of the Rocher Corneille. It was made from 213 Russian cannons taken in the "Siege of Sevastopol" (1854–1855).