Travel Guide Bellegarde-En-Marche

(Bellegarde-en-Marche) It all began in the th century, when Louis VIII, fighting Henri III, King of England, decided to establish an advanced military post at Bellegarde. The city then became capital of the parishes that formed the franc-alleu (a alleu was a territory free or free of feudal duty).There are walls around the city, only the Clock tower and some old buildings. In the past, the Bellegardiens were called goat eaters… According to legend, to repel the English, men took part in their encounter at the entrance to the city by waving spades adorned with goat horns. At the sight of this cohort, the attackers would have shouted "Oh! Beautiful guard! " and would not have looted the city. Each year, the last Sunday in November, chevriers and chevrières from the whole region, came to Bellegarde to enthrone new members. After the parade in the old town, the traditional meal, of course, of goats.Once the place of making tapestry, Bellegarde was in the th century specialized in greenery known as the "Green Bellegarde Menu".From the chapel Notre-Dame (1880), we have a superb view of the Puy and the Puy de Dome. In the th century church of Saint-Sylvain-Bellegarde, a rich th century golden wooden reissue can be seen.