Pierre le Vénérable Cluny plaid a major role in 12th century Europe. Pierre de Montboissier, known as Pierre Following in the footsteps le Vénérable (1092-1196), was its ninth abbot. He was of the Cluny monks… responsible for the creation Villes et bourgs of a network of more than Created in 1994, the Federation of clunisian sites is a network of the places which, in de caractere one thousand two hundred du Livradois-Forez establishments with around Europe, have contributed to the development ten thousand monks. He and renown of Cluny, from the 10th to the came from a noble family 18th centuries. In 2004, the Federation in Montboissier, in the presented ‘a project for cultural itineraries heights of the Livradois based on the discovery of great figures of (a few miles from the clunisian epic and on the rereading Sauxillanges). From an of its history’. The following year, this early age he was set project received the label of ‘Great to become a member Cultural Itinerary’ from the Council of a monastic order. of Europe. After his studies at the In 2006, there were one hundred priory of Sauxillanges, he went to Cluny at the age of or so sites. The network is growing seventeen or so in order to complete his profession of throughout Europe. Its aim is to faith. He then came back to Sauxillanges and stayed make the history and heritage of the until the death of his father in 1116. Four years later, Cluny monks known to the greatest he was named prior in Nomène near Grenoble. He was number. There are eight sites in the called up to Cluny in order to elect a new abbot but Puy-de-Dôme, two of which are in the it was he that was elected, in 1122, to direct Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park: the Order. He was an indefatigable traveler. Ris, and Sauxillanges with its priory and t the beginning of our era, He was also an outstanding diplomat, notably prior’s chapel. the Gaulish villages took during the election of pope Innocent II against A advantage of the Pax Romana the antipope Anaclet II in 1130. He initiated a in order to set up villages near to series of reforms, some economic, so that the rivers and Roman roads. Up to then, Order could return to its former splendor and villages had been on top of fortified influence. He wrote a number of treatises which hills. Progressively, the inhabitants refuted Jewish and Islamic doctrine (he had the abandoned the vernacular language Koran translated into Latin in order to do this). Pierre le Vénérable died on the 24th September Contact: Fédération des Sites Clunisiens, and adopted that of the occupier. 1156 as the monks were celebrating Christmas Tour des Fromages – 71250 Cluny Place names became romanized too. mass. The name of ‘Vénérable’ was given to him Telephone/Fax: 03 85 59 31 82 Legend has it that Celsus, a wealthy Eau-Mère’s odyssey just before his death by the emperor Frederick Internet: http://fsc.cluny.free.fr landowner, became Celsinius and had himself built a villa near to In the Middle-Ages, the presence of a monastery or of a priory was an 1st Barbarossa. important source of economic development for a region. It is thanks a stream. His ancestors probably to its priory that Sauxillanges became prosperous. La Réveille source venerated this stream. The villa was As is the case for many towns, the presence of water in Sauxillanges Th e t o w n s a n d v i l l a g e s o f ‘A kilometre to the north-west of Sauxillanges, near the path to Flat, there is a Roman in design: a vast courtyard was also important for its development. An impressive number of c h a r a c t e r o f t h e Livradois-Fo r e z source of mineral water; its name is well known: ‘La Réveille’. The water is cold and surrounded by various buildings. mills were built along the well-named Eau-Mère (‘mother-water’). slightly acid, uncomplicated, without any colour, and somewhat sour. Its flavour is In 927, there were five mills. In 1774 there were ten still in acti- slightly alkaline. We analysed it in 1845, but as we only tested a very small quantity, The future Sauxillanges was born… vity, including a ‘martinet’, a mill with pestles used to forge metal. our results are only approximate. The water of La Réveille being both alkaline Diverted by men, as is the case of the reach in Sauxillanges, or not, he heritage of the Livradois-Forez and slightly sour, it may be appropriate for people suffering from slow or difficult In the second half of the 3rd the river, was virtually an inexhaustible source of energy. Regional Nature Parc is rich. digestion, for those suffering from gout, gallstones, or gravel, and for those whose century, Austremoine, first bishop The priory and Until the end of the 18th century, Sauxillanges was a busy place T It is made up of a network of towns, liver or spleen are engorged, also for those who are anaemic or have chlorosis. The whose economic activity was even greater than that of . There and big and small villages. Economic activity sample was given to us by one of our clients; we did not draw it up ourselves.’ of Clermont (one of the oldest the fortified town were numerous craftsmen: tanners, carders, millers, weavers, dyers, consists of agriculture, forestry, crafts and 1846. Annales scientifiques, littéraires et industrielles de l’; published diocese of Gaul) led a campaign to potters, cobblers, cartwrights, stone carvers, joiners and carpenters, industry. The spatial organization of these by the Academy of Science, Arts and Literature of Clermont-Ferrand, under the Twelve monks from Cluny came to set up the monastery in and even bell makers and jewellers. The town was well-known for its direction of M. Henri Lecoq. evangelize the Auvergne. Numerous Sauxillanges. They had considerable financial means at their disposal. activities goes back, for the most part, muslin, and for its ‘camelot’, a fabric made from wool and goat’s hair, places of worship were built, often They had a vast church built, dedicated to the patron saints of their which was sold as far away as Germany, Spain, and even India. to the Middle-Ages and produced, order: Saint Peter and Saint Paul. They also had a church constructed from the 14th century on, an interesting, simple chapels, sometimes made In 1772, the route from Clermont to Brioude via Issoire was opened, for the inhabitants of the town: Our Lady of the Assumption, which and later on the railway line, also via Issoire. This put an end to the and sometimes remarkable, urban architecture. just of wood. was enlarged in the 15th century. Towards the end of the first economic growth of Sauxillanges, despite the efforts of several new The Parc Naturel Régional Livradois-Forez assists In 1062, the abbey became a priory under direct authority of Cluny. manufactures: a tilery, a laundry, and a wire mesh maker set up in the communes in their efforts to revitalize those The Maison du millennium, monachism became a Its influence and wealth grew and it became, a few decades later, one the former Notre-Dame-du Bois chapel. Most of the craftsmen had to urban centers that are particularly interesting. Patrimoine, local very important phenomenon and of the privileged ‘five daughters’ of Cluny. give up their activities, and the mills shut down one after the other. several thousand monasteries were New buildings were built: cloister, chapter room, dormitory, refectory, Today, Sauxillanges is nothing like the medieval town of Pierre le history museum prior’s chapel, stables, fermentation room, storehouses and other Vénérable, and even less like the Gallo-Roman villa of Celsinius. built all over Europe. outhouses indispensible to the upkeep of a large monastic community Though, over time, the town has lost some of its splendour, its What would the religious heritage of In 909, Guillaume 1er le Pieux (at its height: sixty or so monks and a considerable number of walls, buildings and monuments are there as evidence of its rich USEFUL ADDRESSES Sauxillanges, especially the remains (i.e. William the 1st ‘the pious’), servants and various acolytes). A hospice was also added to take and fascinating history, and are one of the main reasons for its care of the sick, travellers, and pilgrims on their way to St James lasting appeal. Mairie (Town Hall) of the priory, have become had it who owned several counties of Compostella. 6, Place de l’Ancienne-Poste not been for the small group of including the Auvergne and Mâcon, In the 12th century, fortifications were built to protect monastic 63490 Sauxillanges enthusiasts who, at the end of the Telephone: 04 73 96 80 25 founded an abbey in Cluny (in property. Sauxillanges thus survived the destructions of the One Fax: 04 73 96 87 24 80s, set up an association to revive the Saône-et-Loire). It was Benedictine Hundred Years War (1337-1453). [email protected] brilliant past of the town? Later on, two new walls were built around the town. The second was Pottery The association Pierre-le-Vénérable and followed Catholic tradition. put up in the 15th century. It had a moat, towers, and the Coche, Notre-Dame, and Saint Martin gates. Sauxillanges was for a long time, was launched in 1987. Its aim is to He decided to also have built, Tourist Information Office preserve and renovate the heritage of in the upper part of his villa in After this prosperous period, the priory slowly declined. On the eve 04 73 96 37 63 due to the good quality of its clay, a of the Revolution, there were only about ten monks left, and the [email protected] major production centre of pottery in the priory, and, first-and-foremost, Sauxillanges, a chapel dedicated to the former prior’s chapel, Notre-Dame- property was in a poor state. In 1792, it was sold. The bell towers the Puy-de-Dôme. This was especially the Holy Trinity, to the Virgin Mary were destroyed and the bells melted down. The body of Saint Godon true during the 17th century, when du-Bois, with its beautiful keystones. (he was an abbot of monastery in the 7th century) which had The initial work consisted in major and to Saint John the Evangelist. there were eight potters in the town. It is only after his death that the been laid to rest in Sauxillanges since the 14th century, was burned They produced everyday utensils: pots, restoration work on this chapel. It was on the main square. The priory is pillaged and the priory church crockery, jugs, wash-tubs, etc. Their then turned into a local history and monastery of Sauxillanges started destroyed. The parish church, whose spire had collapsed, was used revenue was not often very good. local architecture museum. to be built, thanks to a donation as a meeting room. Mairie de Sauxillanges There were four workshops still in The association’s efforts have been from one of his nephews, Acfred, In the 19th century, the moat was filled in. The town was opened up activity in 1906. The last one closed exemplary, as have been those of the in 927. on its eastern side. Large parts of the wall were destroyed, the streets commune, the local authority; it has enlarged, and land parcels became bigger, mostly in order to take into down in 1930. account the new constraints linked to modes of transport. The last tilery was shut in 1940 for restored the interesting civil heritage Parc Naturel Régional lack of coal. of Sauxillanges. Livradois-Forez 63880 St-Gervais-sous- Illustrations: Hélène Latte Maison du Patrimoine: Meymont Tex: Christian Ponchon 04 73 96 85 10 Telephone: 04 73 95 57 57 Printers: Cornu, Issoire www.parc-livradois-forez.org 8 Place de la Liberté Marchédial square Saint-Jean street Tanneries street 8. The washing place 10 2 5 A few washing stones, carved at an angle, here The storehouse buttresses Marchédial square is situated on the east-west axis The craft Liberté Wall made of riverbed pebbles and there on both sides of the reach, are a of the town, between Notre Dame and the Coche reminder that the women of Sauxillanges, in Ten massive buttresses, two of which are more industry and water ‘Liberté’ is a few hundred meters along the D 214 This wall is opposite a former skin drying shed. gate. There are numerous Renaissance façades Nord the time before washing machines, came here recent, held up the vast outbuildings of the road to Saint-Jean-en-Val; it is the former Saint It is made of pebbles taken from the Eau-Mère (numbers 2, 8, 9, 11, 15) with their characteristic regularly to beat their washing. Straddling the priory which included the fermentation room, Jacques (Saint James) chapel which was turned and the Allier. The wall forming construction mullion and transom windows made of stone Tour 2 water, this particular washing place was private The priory grain stores, stables, and lodgings (15th century) into a house after the Revolution. It was where the technique used is that of filling in the space (some have been restored in wood) with sculpted on the side of the houses, public on the side for the servants. pilgrims on the route to St James of Compostella, between shuttering with cement and other and the frames (do take your time to admire them…). where the path is. For a long time, it was in this square that the via Le Puy, used to shelter. building material (in this case, pebbles). fortified town 11 weekly wheat grain market took place. During the Rue du Pont The local history museum 9 The Pères mill (Maison du Patrimoine) monastic period, there was an oven to cook the 1 Coufferts wharf Breuil path Tour 1 bread for the town folk. The covered grain market The Clos Fleuri house The monks’ mill was situated below the priory. It This former prior’s chapel, an elegant Gothic built in 1848 was destroyed in the mid-20th This wharf was created by the monks to supply This house was built at the beginning of the 19th 6 used a wheel with vanes which rotated thanks to construction, is now a museum and exhibition century as it was no longer of any use. their flour mill. It is built on a diversion of the The former abattoir century. From 1820 it became a horticultural the water of the reach. In 1899, the mill became space thanks to the association Pierre-le-Vénérable Astrou. Several craftsmen settled here too (tanners, D business specialized in the production of asparagus Constructed with bricks made in Sauxillanges the Saint Hubert factory and was one of the first Starting point: (see p. 4). The 12th century building to the right 16 carpenters, mattress makers) who needed water Baillif’s house crowns and vine, as well as in the creation of parks (see page 4), this former abattoir also used the electric ‘power stations’ in the department of Saint Martin square of the museum, made of red arkose, included the for their activities. The inhabitants also created water from the headrace, to clean the tools Puy-de-Dôme. It had a turbine which supplied The name of this house comes from the dynasty and gardens. Several very handsome trees remain monks’ dormitory, heated room, latrines, chapter several washing places. and the floors, etc. The upper floor was used part of the town with electricity… when there was 1 of notaries that lived there during three centuries, in the garden of the Clos Fleuri. The town hall and Tourist Office room and scriptorium. to dry the skins. sufficient water. from 1650 on. They were descendants of rich 3 The entrance with an accolade lintel to the left of a Half-timbered houses The Town Hall (Mairie), with its two impressive the Maison du Patrimoine is known as the ‘stag’s craftsmen (potters, coppersmiths, tanners) who 7 10 flights of stairs, was built at the beginning of door’. It led to the prior’s residence and to the had used the building since the end of the 15th There are several half-timbered Renaissance-style The drying shed Pigeon loft the Restoration period (1813-1840) on the spot monastic garden. century. They accumulated the posts of bailiff, houses here, with windows made of Volvic stone. The water probably being cleaner and more free- This handsome traditional edifice is situated in a where Saint Martin’s church used to be (there mayor, and magistrate. One of them, Charles 4 running at this spot, five or six tanners set up their corner of the school garden. are no vestiges). The constabulary (gendarmerie), Andraud, had a house built in 1664 to take care 12 Viallard waterfall workshops here. The water, for practical reasons, the prison, and the post office were once also Promenade square of the poor. It became, by patent letters from the ran under the workshops. The skins were tanned 11 Originally used to supply power to a mill, this Communal washing place housed here. 12 king, a hospital in 1719. It was later converted 13 using tannin from the oaks in the Bord forest Saint-Jean church into a retirement home. waterfall was later used to produce electricity for nearby. They were dried in the openwork attics. There are, along the reach, a few hatches which 2 The ‘small castle’ (private) 11 the Viallard joiners’ workshop. allowed the gardens and prairies to be watered. Guillaume le Pieux, duke of Aquitaine, in the 17 Former tile warehouse The former communal washing place is along the This is one of the most handsome buildings in middle of the 10th century, had this church, path that leads to the top of Promenade square. Sauxillanges, with its two tall towers either side dedicated to Saint John the evangelist, built. It There are highly elaborate roof tiles on this former of a decorated pediment. It was built in the was probably originally a chapel, made partly of warehouse. The name of the firm is painted on the 17th century where Saint Martin’s gate used to wood, which had been used by the twelve monks tiles and is only therefore visible… from above. 18 9 be, on the former ramparts. It first belonged to that had come from Cluny. The priory castle 19 10 the Matussière de Mercœur family. In 1891, it was built later. It was protected by a ditch and 12 became the property of the Saint Joseph religious surrounded by a wall, a few elements of which 13 8 7 congregation. The sisters set up a boarding remain, including a 15th century machicolation 14 school and later a domestic science school which that can be seen from Promenade square (due 17 lasted until 1966. west).

Monastère street From this square there is a good view of the 10 gardens below and, over to the south-west, one 11 16 3 Saint Martin’s gate can see Usson on its hill. Usson is one of the 20 ‘prettiest villages of ’. It has a monumental 6 This gate, one of three, was built into the third Virgin and child dating from 1893. Marguerite 9 outer walls built in the 15th century. It allowed de Valois, known as ‘la Reine Margot’, lived for access to the priory church (via what is now many years there. Monastère street). This thoroughfare was for a 15 8 long time the busy centre of the town, with shops and notable’s houses. 12,13 Communal schools 4 The post house Forges street 7 The architecture of these two schools is typical of the Troisième République period. The one built in On the façade of n°12, at the first storey level, 13 Tourelles gate 1911, now the kindergarten, used to be the girls’ there is a wall painting showing a stage coach 6 school, and the primary school, opened in 1866, below Usson hill, which is a reminder of the fact The second gate of the priory, called Tourelles was for the boys. that this building had once been the post house. gate, was probably here and not, as is sometimes said, opposite the parish church. The building to 5 5 Charnier square the left of this spot (looking up the street) was a 5 long time ago a prison with two cells, a dungeon c Charnier square is behind the former priory and the guard’s lodge. stables; the name evokes the fact that the sale of 4 meat once took place there. 14 Stair tower d 6 This tower shelters a Volvic stone spiral staircase. 22 Quatre-Arcs gate and the stables 3 The escutcheon above the lintel of the mullioned 1 There is nothing left of the vaulted tower which window to the left of the doorway remains, for 2 4 had been the principal entry way of the priory. The the while, an enigma. 21 a b Cluny coat of arms used to be on its pediment (see 7). The walls that guarded the priory still exist 15 Our Lady of the Assumption either side of this spot: looking down, on the church right were the stables (the blue house), and on the D left were the hostelry buildings. The pillar on the This church was built outside the monastery walls angle of the house on the left did not, as is often for the town’s inhabitants. It was originally (in said, belong to the gate. The Quatre-Arcs gate had the 10th century) a small Romanesque chapel 3 been the western entrance of the priory until it with a barrel vaulted nave. A vast Gothic nave, 1 was destroyed in order to enlarge the street. two side chapels, and a tribune were added in the 15th century. During the Revolution, the bell 7 The Cluny coat of arms (1699) tower was partly destroyed and the bells melted down. At the end of the 19th century, the turret a Breuil cascade, and ‘spring’ of In the middle of the façade of the hostelry with its three bells were destroyed, the bell tower buildings, half-way up, one finds the Cluny coat was heightened and covered with a tall pointed the reach of arms which used to be on the Quatres-Arcs roof. Most of the stained glass windows of the This pretty cascade on the Astrou is downriver gate. Two angels carry the symbol of St Peter (the choir (19th century) illustrate local historical Fossés-Nord street from La Coirie. It is at this spot that the ‘monks’ keys to paradise), and the symbol of Saint Paul events. One shows Urbain blessing the monastery 18 2 reach’ starts. There is a system of hatches, that still (the sword which decapitated him). church after having preached the first crusade in The blacksmith’s house work, that controlled the water flow. The overflow 1095, another Pierre de Montboisier, the future goes into the Chaméane river. Pierre le Vénérable, as a child being presented In order not to obstruct the small opening of 8-mai square the attic, the eaves (with a triple row of curved Why not take the alternative b to the monks of Sauxillanges. Another shows The Eau-Mère 8 the ‘Invention’ (discovery) of the Holy Cross in tiles) are curved into a ‘gendarme’s hat’ shape. Fossés (moat) street route along the pleasant footpath The cloister (private) Jerusalem (the local parish feast day celebrates it This house, situated near the former Notre-Dame via La Coierie (about an hour’s The confluence of the Astrou and Chaméane rivers gate, was undoubtedly the blacksmith’s, as the 21 The cloister, 14th century for the south and east on 14th September every year). There are also the Former gate? walk)? gives birth to a river with a highly symbolic name coats of arms of the monastery and of the prior. horse shoe carved on the angle of the wall and : the Eau-Mère (‘Mother-Water’; local belief has it galleries, and beginning of the 18th century gable indicates. This arched entryway is not, despite what one for the west gallery, was the centre of monastic that this name is evidence of some pagan cult to Also worthy of note: might imagine, a former gate of the ramparts. It a water goddess). When the water level is not too community life. Everything converged here: the 19 was undoubtedly built at a time when entering chapter house, the library, the dormitory, and • A pietà representing the Virgin Mary holding The ditch high, there emerges at this spot a large stone easily her crucified son in her arms (15th century wall the town via secondary access paths no longer visible from the bridge. The Eau-Mère flows into the refectory. The central courtyard, restored Once known as the ‘rif de merderie’ because the presented any danger. in the 1960s and 70s, is bordered by the three painting, Historic Monument). untreated sewerage of the town flowed into it, the Allier at . galleries, two of which open onto the outside. • A statue of Notre Dame du Bois (once housed in the ditch was filled in in the 19th century. The c The monks could go from one area to another the prior’s chapel and hid during the Revolution). ramparts being no longer of any use, windows Four (‘oven’) street Turn left and go along the path to the under shelter. The slipper hanging from her right hand wrist were built into the wall in order to allow the wooden stairs. Climb the stairs and continue has, according to legend, the power to cure houses built against it to get more light. 22 The corbelled house made of along the path on the edge of the forest to get 9 The fountain fevers. unfired bricks to La Coierie. • The ‘treasure chapel’ under the tribune contains 20 Pigeon loft d The 19th century, when running water in every gilded wooden statues from the 15th and 16th This house is not in pisé (an adobe construction La Coierie house did not yet exist, was the golden age of centuries of various saints (Peter, Paul, Godon), The pigeon loft was built for practical purposes, system commonly used in the villages of the Cross the bridge above the Chaméane, go through public fountains. The fountain on the main square and a painting which looks like a strip cartoon namely for the meat and the droppings, but Livradois-Forez), but is built of unfired bricks the village, and go back to Sauxillanges. Try of Sauxillanges is made up of two cast iron bowls (1606) showing the martyrdom of Crépin and also as a status symbol (there are many in the (made of dried earth), a technique used notably to spot the various pigeon lofts and unusual above a basin made of Volvic stone. Crépinien, the patron saints of cobblers. Livradois-Forez and in the Limagne). in the area. decorations on the buildings. a Breuil cascade a Breuil cascade