Lavaudieu

The French community Lavaudieu is in the Haute- Loire in the Auvergne region about five miles southeast of Brioude. The village has 226 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) and was awarded for its medieval character with the title L' un des plus beaux villages de France.

Place name

The village has existed since 909-1487 under the name Comps. Then it was renamed Lavaudieu, which is derived from the "Valley of God" and probably due to the resident monastery is here ..

Geography

Lavaudieu located on the edge of the Valley of Senouire, a tributary of the Allier. The southeast edge of the settlement, which is occupied mainly by the abbey buildings, is situated on the edge of the steep Talhangs.

The competent Prefecture Le Puy -en -Velay is located about 60 km south-west. The community is associated in the Regional Natural Park Livradois -Forez.

Attractions

Nuns Abbey of Saint -André

Founded in the 11th century former priory for nuns of Saint -André Comps (later of Lavaudieu ) was appointed in 1718 to the Abbey. She remained the only Romanesque Abbey in the Auvergne from the ravages of the French Revolution (1789 and after) largely spared. The east wing of the abbey is only obtained incomplete. The rustic -looking cloister with its beamed ceilings and wooden galleries of the second floor is known for its simple archaic capital sculpture. Of importance, the wall paintings of the Italian school of the 14th century in the church who have been exposed from 1965 to 1980. The highest art historical rank is occupied by the fresco on the east wall of the so-called refectory, the largest contiguous in the Auvergne. Due to special characteristics in the stylization of painting, which are known from the 13th century, the emergence it is assigned.

Nave abbey church

Cloister of the Abbey

Refectory with fresco

For details, see separate article Abbey of Saint -André Lavaudieu.

Remains of the fortifications

The village was a castrum, a fortified village, which was enclosed by a massive defensive wall, are obtained from the still considerable remains, especially on the southeast, facing the Senouire side of the village in the Middle Ages. The "main street" of the settlement led by fortified portals that were safe with portcullis. Le Portail Bas ( Lower Portal) was removed in 1953 and reconstructed in 2000.

On the southeast side of the castrum the highest parts of the city walls extend down to the valley floor, where they form - even today - a fall protection of steep Talhangs and the building of the abbey and prevent them from undermining, in the case of floods of the river.

This defensive wall still enormous and appears high in the subsection is opposite the eastern gable of the refectory, still an impressive little higher and reaches almost to the height of the eaves of the Kreuzgangostgalerie. The lower half of this higher part of the wall is reinforced with three strong buttresses, in the heavily overgrown upper half rectangular window openings are cut out. This high structure is very reminiscent of the exterior wall of a former donjon. In the area between defense wall and the former eastern wing of the abbey one encounters foundation walls and basement of various labyrinthine premises, one of which even high rise. This remarkable remains suggestive of a small Chateau fort in contact to the nearby abbey. It was in the middle ages for the inhabitants of the Abbey and its servants certainly a need to withdraw in the event of armed sieges in the protection of a donjon and thereby to be their house of worship near.

Ramparts, fortifications

Abbey garden behind fortified walls

Defensive walls in the valley

Defensive walls in the valley, perhaps the remains of a Donjon

Ramparts before the refectory

Defensive wall south of the abbey

Door in the perimeter wall

Behind the defensive wall on the right, a staircase leads to the village square

Village

The building has two different construction methods. The older consists of the closed mostly two-storey building, which has evolved within the fortified walls around the Abbey buildings around, the oldest buildings date back to the Middle Ages. As almost every family was engaged in agriculture, there was no room for gardens and even fields. The cultivated fields were outside the perimeter wall. The pointing to the streets and alleys facades were built of local rubble stone.

In the 19th and early 20th century, it closed in the south and west by a detached, slightly loosened usually two-storey buildings. On the street side there was the residential building to which angularly joined the utility building. There were also agricultural gardens and fields.

Both designs are still preserved and are subject to the conditions of preservation. However, the old buildings and streets were still in the late 1980s in a neglected state. At each estate there were on the road the mandatory during the first half of the century " dunghill " ( Dung site)., And small livestock such as chickens, geese and goats ran freely around the village streets. The cows were taken to the pastures of the floodplains. You could even watch then in Lavaudieu oxen in their work yet. All this time reminiscent of an outdoor museum events have disappeared from the scene.

In the southeast of the Abbey is a spacious village square follows, by the leave the " main streets " of the village. On it still stands the former public village wells, the frame for shoeing the horses, oxen and cows, a missionary cross from 1779, and the bakery, get everything today. The size of the village square suggests the holding of weekly markets.

Village scenes

Village street in the center

Village street with tower

Old wooden door

Well-kept garden, residential tower

Bell at a store

Old walls, beams and balcony

Typical balcony

Rural Museum

In the former building of the village bakery, the Musée is housed paysan since 1968, illustrating the daily life of the rural population of the region in the late 20th century with an extensive collection of everyday objects. On the ground floor is all grouped around the large oven. On the same level there is a stable joins, suggesting that even the baker kept some livestock. Here you can see a collection of agricultural implements and tools. There are three rooms, including a master bedroom, and a children's room, where various collections of dresses and tops are shown.

Renovated residence

Art lives in old walls

Houses southwest of the abbey