Vichy - Notre-Dame-des-Malades

The place was founded by the Romans at springs already used by them.

In 1344, Duke Pierre I de Bourbon obtained the possession of the lands. In 1410, a monastery of the Benedictines was founded here. In 1527, the Bourbon possessions reverted to the French crown. At the end of the 16th century, the first patients came to Vichy for the healing springs, which were soon considered to be true "miracle springs".

The springs of Vichy became famous thanks to the Marquise de Sevigné, who came here for a cure in 1676 and 1677. She praised its healing properties. In 1761, two daughters of Louis XV came here for a cure. Their nephew, Louis XVI, had a new bath complex built at the springs in 1787. Napoleon's mother stayed here for a cure in 1799. It is attributed to her influence that the emperor had the "Parc de Sources" laid out in 1812. In 1830, the spa house was inaugurated. Napoleon III made Vichy his summer residence for several years. The town became a fashionable spa for the international aristocracy.

From 1899 to 1903 following the construction of the Centre Thermal of the Dome with the drinking hall, a 700-meter-long ambulatory and a bath in oriental style were erected. Around 1900, 40,000 spa guests per year came to Vichy, and shortly before World War I, the number was nearly 100,000.

During World War II, the town became the headquarters of the French Vichy regime under Philippe Pétain.

After the war, Vichy resumed spa operations and once again acquired the title of "Reine des villes d'eaux" ("Queen of Spas"). But that changed in the 1970s, when the celebrities among the bathers preferred other resorts.

In Merovingian times, a chapel existed here. Destroyed in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th century, it became the Saint-Blaise church, when it was throughout altered and enlarged from 1672 to 1714.

When the tourist numbers grew after WWI Saint-Blaise, enlarged already in the 19th century, was definitely too small and a new church was commissioned.

The Art Deco style was chosen for the new church named "Notre-Dame-des-Malades". Its construction by the architects Antoine Chanet and Jean Lioger took place from 1925 to 1937. The church got consecrated already in 1931, but the tower was not finished until 1956. The interior decorations and stained glass windows were done by the Mauméjean brothers.

The construction was possible by using concrete and tons of steel.