Langeac and Environs

 

It was just a drive through the countryside that led us to Langeac and the area surrounding it one fine day in June. The French countryside is so beautiful, just a drive through it brings much pleasure and satisfaction. We came upon wheat fields, the Allier River, a goat farm, a former Benedictine priory, and an old windmill. 

                     Langeac is just 40 minutes west of Le Puy.

 

Allier River

The Allier River flows  262 miles through central France from its source in the Massif Central just east of the city of Mende. It is a left tributary of the Loire flowing north and joining the Loire west of the city of Nevers.

The 16th and 17th centuries were very prosperous times for Langeac, a small market town full of artisans. Following the Napoleonic wars (1803-15), artisans and merchants also benefited. However, exploitation of wood, stone quarries, coal mines, antimony, lead, and silver led to several devastating river floods. In the 1860s the railroads superceded river transport and the floods subsided. Townsmen then learned how to repair and maintain locomotives. 

 

 

Today, the town regards the Allier River as a place of beauty and respite. It has built a riverfront walkway and park to take advantage of this picturesque view.

Even the simple wheat fields of Langeac are beautiful as they are framed by a gorgeous landscape surrounded by mountains. Eluiza found some yellow flowers on the edge of the wheat field that she couldn't resist picking. The video below captures the waves of grain. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We returned to this area in October and discovered the small town of Lavoûte-Chilhac. just 8 miles northwest of  Langeac. Before we arrived there, we spotted a sheep farm where the herd was munching on grass. I clapped my hands and they all moved toward our car. It was quite a sight to see a swarm of sheep all moving together toward us. Unfortunately, I didn't take a video camera to record them, but did manage to take a photo of them near the fence. 

 

 

 

Lavoûte-Chilhac

Lavoûte-Chilhac goes back to ancient times, but on September 14, 1025, Odilon de Cluny, then 5th Abbot of Cluny, founded the priory of Sainte Croix The Volte. The fashion for priories at the time was an emphasis on modesty and austerity. In 1406, the priory was much run down so restoration in mid-century replaced the early Romanesque church. Between 1778-90 a new wing was being constructed to make a horseshoe shape of the priory, however, that work was cut short by the French Revolution. The monks soon afterward abandoned the priory.

 

Lavoûte-Chilhac is actually made up of two neighborhoods separated by the Alliers River and connected by an old stone bridge. On the left bank are a series of riverside houses with high façades to guard against flooding (see photo above). On the right bank is the old Cluniac priory (see below). Behind this large structure is Sainte-Croix Church noted with the bell tower that is made from volcanic lava rock.

The priory complex has some interesting features. The front entrance is a horseshoe shape with a tunnel that leads to the church. 

 

 

 

 

The rose window on the facade is divided into 12 ray lobes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This 12th century Romanesque polychrome crucifix depicts Jesus' eyes open. Before the 13th century, artists were reluctant to represent a suffering Christ. 

 

 

 The altarpiece was installed in 1713.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The choir stalls that wrap around the wall behind the altar are made of walnut and hand-carved.

The Signs of the Times

As we cruised around the village, we noticed a small sign on the left bank that pointed to an historic windmill. After a long winding drive outside the village and into the countryside, we found it, albeit with a more familiar design. In the distance were modern windmills that generate power from the wind. This region of France is full of them thanks to the mighty winds of the Massif Central! The old windmills were used only to grind grain.

Besides its historical heritage, Lavoûte-Chilhac today is a popular place for outdoor activities like canoeing, fishing and hunting. Due to the coronavirus, it was rather quiet except for a group of people playing pétanque, a popular game similar to bocci ball in Italy.

 

Lavaudieu -- One of France's Most Beautiful Villages

 

On the banks of the Senouire River stands Lavaudieu, one of the "most beautiful villages in France". This picturesque 11th century village of 250 citizens provides visitors with an exquisite experience of a time long past as it intersects with the present. French families frequently visit here to eat a picnic lunch on the grassy green river banks or just wander through the village.

 

 

The entrance to the village is a winding road upward from the public parking lots down below near the river.

  

 

 

The narrow medieval streets wind around the old stone houses and buildings that were typical of the regional architecture. The Haute-Loire Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions captures daily medieval life in this region.

 

 

 

 

An old twist on "the Golden Arches" which marks the entrance into the village.

 

 

 

 

Another view of St. André Church with remnants of a stone wall. Below are some well-kept riverside community gardens as well as a few private gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stone houses with red round-tile roofs line the cobblestone streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wandering around the village's streets reveals some interesting and unexpected sights.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of Lavaudieu 

    The abbey (right) with the church's prominent bell tower on the riverfront

Lavaudieu was founded in the 11th century by Robert de Turlande, a Roman Catholic priest from the Order of St. Benedict. In fact, he built this Benedictine abbey for women in Lavaudieu and one for men in Chaise Dieu 18.5 miles eastward. The nuns remained here until the French Revolution (1789-99)

 

 

 

 

The village square highlights the entrance to the former cloister (center) and St. André Church (left). The iron cross was erected in the mid-eighteenth century.

 

 

 

 

 The church is rather unremarkable except for the two-storey Romanesque octagonal bell tower that tops it. The bell tower was truncated during the French Revolution in order to display the Phrygian cap at its summit.

 

The abbey is considered a perfectly preserved Romanesque cloister and the only one of its kind in the Auvergne region. The Roman-style cloister has two levels of arches: those on the ground floor that are more decorative and those on the upper storey that are simpler. A quadrangle or courtyard sits in the center.

  

 

 

Both the cloister and church feature several interesting wall paintings derived from the Italian School of the 14th century.

 

 "Christ in Majesty" is a 12th century fresco located in the cloister's refectory.

 

Close-up of the "Virgin Enthroned" (below Christ) who is surrounded by the Apostles

 

Crucifixion

Piétà

                          Resurrection

 

The Black Plague is personified as a woman who carries arrows that strike those around her, often in the neck and armpits where the buboes commonly appeared

 

 A sculpted capital in the Abbey church

 

 

 

Lavaudieu abbey is closed to the public from late autumn to late spring.

 

Lavaudieu is designated in Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“the most beautiful villages of France”), which is an independent association created in 1982 to promote tourism in small rural villages with a rich cultural heritage. As of September 2016, there are 156 member villages.

Membership requires meeting certain criteria: (1) the rural nature of the village (a population of less than 2,000 inhabitants), (2) at least two national heritage sites, and (3) local support. Each village must pay an annual fee to the association and the mayor must sign the association’s Quality Charter.