Velay
| Le Puy-en-Velay | ||
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 Le Puy-en-Velay
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Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Le Puy-en-Velay
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| Coordinates: 45°02′39″N 3°53′09″E / 45.0442°N 3.8858°ECoordinates: 45°02′39″N 3°53′09″E / 45.0442°N 3.8858°E | ||
| Country | France | |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Haute-Loire | |
| Arrondissement | Le Puy-en-Velay | |
| Canton | 5 cantons | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor (2016–2020) | Michel Chapuis (UDI) | |
| Area1 | 16.79 km2 (6.48 sq mi) | |
| Population (2008)2 | 19,976 | |
| • Density | 1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 43157 / 43000 | |
| Elevation | 600–888 m (1,969–2,913 ft) (avg. 630 m or 2,070 ft) |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Le Puy-en-Velay (French pronunciation: [lə pɥiɑ̃vəlɛ]; Occitan: Lo Puèi de Velai [lu ˈpœj ðə vəˈlaj]) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France near the Loire river. Its inhabitants are called Ponots. The city is famous for its cathedral, for a kind of lentil, and for its lace-making.
Le Puy-en-Velay was a major bishopric in medieval France, founded early, though its early history is legendary. According to a martyrology compiled by Ado of Vienne, published in many copies in 858, and supplemented in the mid-10th century by Gauzbert of Limoges, a certain priest named George accompanied a certain Front, the first Bishop of Périgueux, when they were sent to proselytize in Gaul. Front was added to the list of the to Gaul, traditionally sent out to reorganize Christians after the persecutions that are associated with Decius, circa 250. As with others of the group, notably Saint Martial of Limoges, later mythology pushed Saint Front and the priest George back in time, and tells how George had been restored to life with a touch of Saint Peter's staff. The expanding legend of this St. George, which, according to the Church historian Duchesne is not earlier than the 11th century, then makes that saint one of the Seventy Apostles of the Gospel of Luke, and tells how he founded the church of the [civitas] que dicitur Vetula in pago Vellavorum—as the settlement of Ruessium began to be called during the 4th century: the city "called Vetula in the pays of the Vellavi" was how a document of 1004 termed it.Vetula means "the old woman", and pagans were still making small images of her as late as the 6th century in Flanders, according to the vita of Saint Eligius. This was the first cathedral at Le Puy.
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Wikipedia