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.