THE CHAPEL OF THE PENITENTS
The origins of the Penitents Chapel go back to the 1150 s. At the request of the King and with the help of the Earl of Velay and the Bishop of the Puy, the hospital knights of Saint John of Jerusalem built a refuge for pilgrims traveling to the Marian city. The Yssingelian Brotherhood of White Penitents was created in 1629; it brought together secular Christian men. Notre-Dame-des-Penitents, chapel with Romanesque vaults and lauze roof, was built five years later to serve as a meeting place. The brotherhood administered the chapel for three centuries. She was provisionally church parish from 1812 to 1827 and was enlarged several times to accommodate all the faithful. At the heart of the heart is a wooden statue of the Virgin whose origin is unknown. Notre-Dame-des-Penitentes was crowned in 1953.