North of the town of Le Puy-en-Velay, Aiguilhe is famous for its rock (a dormant volcanic pipe) with an astonishing and magnificent chapel dedicated to St Michael built in the 10th century.
This is one of the most important pre-Romanesque and Romanesque monuments in Auvergne.
Prosper Mérimée included the building in the first list of Historic Monuments drawn up in 1840. More recently, it came fourth in the list of French people’s favourite monuments in 2014.
Godescalc, the Bishop of Puy, and Truannus, the dean of the chapter of Puy Cathedral, commissioned work on a chapel devoted to St Michael in 961. Godescalc was also the first French pilgrim to follow the Way of St James in about 950, inaugurating the "Via Podiensis" trail to Santiago de Compostela.
The original oratory in this imposing structure was limited to today’s choir area. It was enveloped in a larger monument in the 12th century, built to follow the outlines of the rock’s summit. The extended chapel was built without foundations, and contains a nave, an ambulatory and a tribune, along with a remarkable polychrome and trefoil-shaped facade.
https://www.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.co.uk/monuments-puy-en-velay/rocher-et-chapelle-saint-michel-daiguilhe/