Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

La Croix de Vollore-Ville is a medieval monumental cross erected in 1535, located on Place de la Conche in the village of Vollore-Ville, department of Puy-de-Dôme. Made of Volvic stone, it is attributed to artisan Sébastien Boisson. Its late Gothic style is distinguished by a curved barrel adorned with Renaissance foliage, high reliefs of children and squid, as well as a basin collecting water from a fountain at its base. The cross, whose branches end with motifs of cabbage, presents a Christ on one side and a Virgin on the other, overcoming a base decorated with four characters in relief.

Ranked as historical monuments by order of 20 December 1905, this cross experienced movements during its history. Originally settled in Vollore-Ville, it was transferred to the Bouchet in the 19th century before being repatriated to its original village in 1821. His inscription in relief on the barrel relates the circumstances of his erection, offering a precise testimony of his context of creation in the sixteenth century.

The cross illustrates Renaissance religious art in Auvergne, mixing Gothic influences and humanist decorations. Its material, the Volvic stone, typical of the region, and its initial function linked to a fountain underline its anchoring in local community life. Symbolic motifs, such as the head of angels and death on the nimbe, reflect the spiritual concerns of the time, between devotion and reminder of mortality.

Historical sources, including the work of P.-F. Guélon (1890), confirm its heritage importance. Today located at the approximate address of 5423 Rue de la Grande Chaussade, it remains a remarkable example of a monumental cross auvergne, both a work of art and a historical marker of the territory.

External links