8¾ m. from Puy is [Borne], 2535 ft. above the sea, pop. 390. A ramble in the ravine of Borne forms a pleasant and easy excursion from Le Puy. 5½ m. E. from this station, or 3¼ m. W. from Le Puy, is Polignac, passed by the train. The village, pop. 2500, with church of 11th cent., is at the foot of a rock of basaltic breccia crowned by the imposing ruins of a fortress dating from the 11th cent. A stair of 132 steps (ascent dangerous) leads up to the terrace of the Keep, 14th cent., commanding an extensive view.
13 m. W. from Le Puy is [Darsac], 2914 ft. above the sea. A small hamlet, with a restaurant, the station for Chaise-Dieu, 13¾ m. N., fare 2½ frs., and for Arlanc, 24¼ m. N., or 10½ m. beyond Chaise-Dieu.
La Chaise-Dieu.
The coach first passes through Allègre, pop. 1700, a dirty little village, 5 m. N, on the side of Mont de Bar, 3583 ft. above the sea, with the ruins of a castle built in the 14th cent. Mont de Bar and Mont du Bouchet are the best specimens of extinct volcanoes in the Velay chain. From this the diligence, after having skirted for 8 m. the high cold region of the Velay mountains, arrives at [La Chaise-Dieu], 3576 ft. above the sea, pop. 2000. Inns: Lion d’Or; Centre; Nord. A dirty, decaying village, in which its imposing church participates. Robert, a scion of the ducal house of Aurillac, and canon of St. Julien in Brioude, obtained permission from the canons of N. D.
du Pay to build a small house and oratory in the wildest and most inaccessible part of the forests on their domains, where he and his companions might lead a more austere life than in their monastery at Brioude. This house, built in 1043, by degrees attained the goodly proportions of a convent, which the peasants called La Chaise-Dieu, or Casa-Dei. Clement VI., formerly Roger de Beaufort, abbot of Chaise-Dieu, born in the village, commenced, shortly after his elevation to the papal throne, to build at his own expense a church on the site formerly occupied by the oratory of St. Robert. The work was continued and finished by his nephew, Gregory XI., in 1420, by whom are the façade with the two short massive square towers, 128 ft. high, and the horse-shoe staircase of 41 steps. The tower, 30 ft. square and 110 high, attached to the S. point of the apse, was built by the abbot de Chanac to protect the church and convent, which he surrounded with a wall. The gateway, part of the wall, and part of the old convent, are just under the tower. Adjoining the remains of the abbey buildings are the cloisters, a parallelogram, 140 ft. by 77, of which only two sides remain. The long side has nine low, wide, massive, mullioned and traceried unglazed windows, and the short side four.
The interior of the church is 301 ft. long, surrounded by 22 tall plain slender octagonal piers, from which springs the groining, which spreads itself over the stone-vaulted roof. The nave is 44 ft. wide, and the aisle on each side 15, all the three roofs being of the same height. The church is lighted by long narrow pointed windows, one between each two columns, excepting at the apsidal termination, where a triangular projection affords space for three windows. The tracery has little depth, and is of the simplest design. The choir, 131 ft. long, is separated from the nave by an ugly rood-loft. It contains 144 carved cedar-wood stalls, and above them on both sides 17 pieces of Arras tapestry, 16th cent., from designs by Taddeo Gaddi. In the centre is the mausoleum of Clement VI. His white marble effigy, with the hands folded and the papal Triregnum on the head, reclines on an altar table of black marble.
On the N. side of the screen of the choir, just behind the pulpit, is the “Danse Macabre,” or dance of death, a favourite subject with artiste from the 12th to the 14th cent. The ironic grin and jocund gait of the skeleton death contrast vividly with the dismayed and demure expression of the great and mighty kings, priests, and warriors, young and old, gay and sedate, he marshals off, in the midst of their projects and plans, to the dark silent grave. Under it is the sadly mutilated mausoleum of Queen Edith of England, wife of the unfortunate Harold. Near it is the more perfect mausoleum of the last abbot of La Chaise-Dieu.
Arlanc. Ambert. Fix-St. Geneys.
[ La Chaise-Dieu to Vichy by Arlanc and Ambert.]
10½ m. N. by coach from La Chaise-Dieu, 24¼ m. N. from Darsac, and 11¼ m. S. from Ambert-du-Puy, by a beautiful road, is [Arlanc], pop. 4500, Inn: H. des Princes, between the rivers Dore and Dolore,