Aiguilhe.
Behind the Rocher Corneille rises the isolated volcanic rock called the [Aiguilhe], 265 ft. high, 518 ft. in circumference at the base, 45 at the top, and ascended by 266 steps. Fee, 5 sous. On the summit is the chapel of St. Michael, commenced in 962 by Bishop Godescalk, and consecrated in 984. The present building dates principally from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th cent.; restored and repaired in 1850. Originally the interior of it as well as of the cathedral was covered with mural paintings. The views are superb.
Near the foot of the rock, and adjoining the Mairie of Aiguilhe, is an octagonal baptistery, 12th cent., called the Temple of Diana. Near the post office, in the Boulevard St. Louis, is the lower part of a tower which belonged to the town gate Pannessac. The church, at a little distance below, is St. Laurent, 14th cent. In the chapel to the left of the high altar is the grave and mausoleum of the chivalrous Duguesclin, who died on the 17th July 1380, while besieging the fortress of Châteauneuf-le-Randon, between Langogne and Mende.
Le Puy: Musée. Picture Gallery.
In a large new building in the public garden off the Place de Breuil is the [Musée], open on Sundays and feast days from 2 to 5. Everything is distinctly labelled. On the ground-floor in the hall to the left are architectural relics from Roman buildings in and about Le Puy. The best fragments belonged to the temple which stood on the site now occupied by the baptistery of Saint Jean. In the hall to the
right is a miscellaneous collection of Egyptian, Celtic, and Roman antiquities, mixed up with a few articles belonging to the Middle Ages.
Upstairs is the [Picture Gallery]. In the centre room are portraits of the most celebrated natives of Le Puy, and a very good copy of part of the “Danse Macabre,” dance of death, in the church of Chaise-Dieu. Among the portraits are Charles Crozatier, born 1795, died at Paris 1853, the munificent contributor to the museum of this his native town. In the right-hand hall the best paintings, chiefly belonging to the Flemish school, are in the low row, such as Begyer, d. 1664; Caravaggio; Coypel, d. 1707; Franck, d. 1616; Heem, d. 1694; Lippi, d. 1469; Maes, d. 1693; Mieris, 1747; Mierveld, 1641; Poussin, 1695; Rigaud, 1743; Terburg, 1681; Tyr, 1868; Weenix, 1719. In the adjoining small room is a complete collection of the minerals belonging to the Haute-Loire. In the left room among other pictures are: Annunciation, Tintoretto, 1594; Mdlle. de Valois, Mignard, 1695; Mary Stuart, F. Clouet, 1572; Henriette-Marie de France, wife of Charles I. of England, Van der Werf, 1722; Landscape, Hobbema, 1669; Concert, Teniers (vieux); Portrait of Girl, J. B. Santerre, 1717. In the next room are specimens of the lace, blond and guipure, worked by the females inhabiting the towns and villages among the mountains of Ardèche and the Haute-Loire, of which articles Le Puy is the great emporium. The specimens and sample books are in cases. In the centre case are specimens from Alençon, Binche, Brussels, Cevennes mountains, Malines, Russia, Valenciennes, and Venice; the Corsage with lace trimming of the gown Marie Louise wore on the day she was married to Napoleon I.; also some of her ribbons.
Ours Mons.
1¼ m. S.E. from Le Puy is [Ours Mons], 2463 ft. above the sea, and 180 ft. above the plain. The prospect from the top is considered by Mr. Scrope most remarkable; “exhibiting in one view a vast theatre of volcanic formation, in great variety of aspect, containing igneous products of various natures, belonging to different epochs.”