Le Puy offers one of the most dramatic sights in France. Located in the bowl of a volcanic cone the town appears to have three peaks, each topped with a landmark church or statue. This medieval holy city became a pilgrimage center after Bishop Gotescalk of Le Puy had made one of the first pilgimages to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 962 and built the Chappelle St.Michel d'Aiguilhe upon his return. The chapel is located on the large lava rock on the left and can be reached by a steep 268-step climb. The Cathédrale de Notre-Dame, built on an early pagan site, is an immense Romanesque structure whose checkerboard façade shows the influences of Moorish Spain. It houses one of the many Black Madonnas of the region. Carved in dark walnut or cedar, now blackened with age, the Madonnas are believed to originate from the Byzantine influence of the Crusades. The one in Le Puy is a 19th century copy of the the original brought back from the crusades by Louis IX in the Middle Ages. The cathedral is the center of the Holy City complex that dominates the upper town. The colossal red statue of Notre-Dame-de-France was erected in 1860 on the pinnacle of the Rocher Corneille. It is cast from 213 cannons captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War.
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