LE-PUY-EN-VELAY - Cloister of the cathedral (12th-13th century) restored in the 19th century.
LE-PUY-EN-VELAY
LE-PUY-EN-VELAY
LE-PUY-EN-VELAY
LE-PUY-EN-VELAY
in that of Saragossa, the others in the province of the same name. After the Moorish invasion of the 8th century, its bishops wandered in the regions near the Pyrenees, and thus came to be called "Pallarienses" or "Ripacurcienses," until 957, when the archbishop Aimerico of Narbonne consecrated the cathedral of Roda, where Bishop Odesindo and his immediate successors established their see. By virtue of a bull of Urban II in 1099, confirmed by another of Paschal II in 1100, this see was transferred to Barbastro, whose church, in the following year—that is, after the complete conquest of the city by King Peter I of Aragon—was consecrated by Bishop Poncio. Finally, when the Saracens were driven out of L. in 1149 by Raymond Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona, the episcopal see returned definitively to its original location; however, many bishops thereafter bore the title "Ilerdenses et Rotenses." The ancient cathedral was erected in 1203 through the efforts of King Peter of Aragon and Count Ermengaud II of Urgell, who held joint sovereignty over the city, under Bishop G. de Camporells, and was consecrated in 1279 by G. de Moncada. Its style is Romanesque-Gothic, very elegant, particularly the crossing, the façade, and the cloister. Unfortunately, in 1707, during the War of the Spanish Succession, it was converted into a fortress and greatly defaced, serving until recent times as a barracks; but in 1918 the government declared it a national monument and subsequently restored II. The new cathedral, begun in 1761 and consecrated in 1781, stands in the lower part of the city in a Neoclassical style and, like the ancient one, is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. The archive is very rich. This diocese suffered greatly during the revolution of 1936: the cathedral and many other churches were burned, the bishop and half the clergy were killed; at present, efforts are being made to repair the damage.