St. Michael of the Needle
Aiguilhe had more sites than we could visit in a day. We visited the Chapel, Cathedral, and, of course, the statue of Notre Dame. This is a place I would like to return!
Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe (St. Michael of the Needle) is a chapel in Aiguilhe, near Le Puy-en-Velay, France. The chapel is reached by climbing the 268 steps carved into the rock. This was one of the more anticipated sites of our pilgrimage. We first read about it years ago when we started looking into the Camino. The chapel was built in 969 by the local bishop to celebrate his successful and safe return from his 1000 mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It did not disappoint! What a beautiful chapel. During the ascent, there are two smaller chapels to Gabriel and Raphael which were lovely, too.
Cathedral of Aiguilhe. So pretty in one of the quaintest old cities we’ve visited. I especially enjoyed the Chapel of Adoration here.
Notre-Dame de France – Aiguilhe
The town of Aiguilhe raised the money to build the statue in the1850’s. It is almost 5 stories tall and made of 105 cast Iron pieces each about two inches thick. It was cast with the bronze recovered from 213 Russian cannons captured at the Siege of Sevastopol (Crimean War), a gift from Napoleon III. We took the stairs to the top where you can see the Cathedral, St. Michael’s Chapel, and the Basilica of St. Joseph of Good Hope (which closed before we could visit). Loved these four pillars overlooking the community!
Saint Joseph of Good Hope Basilica
