Cathedrale Notre-Dame

La Cathédrale du Puy-en-Velay, Inscrite au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO depuis 1998 se classe 2ème monument préféré des Français dans l’émission présentée sur France 2 par Stéphane Bern en 2015

The Cathedral is Romanesque in style, but shows various influences especially Bysantine ones.
Under the main entrance, check out the "portes de cèdre" (the 12th century cedar doors) and the internal staircase (sometimes open in summer)
the first steps of which can be seen under the nave. The choir area of the cathedral is built directly on the rock, but when the cathedral had to be enlarged in the 11th and 12th centuries in order to accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims, four additional bays were audaciously built over the void in order to compensate for the difference in level of 17 metres.
Several impressive pillars hold up the high arches.