Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Blaise de Vichy came into being in the 17th century, when Abbé Claude Mareschal launched in 1672 the construction of a new church on the site of the chapel of Saint-Michel of the castle of Vichy. This project, completed in 1714 under the direction of his nephew, Abbé Joseph Mareschal, replaces a merovingian building destroyed in the tenth century and rebuilt in the twelfth. The church houses a 14th century black Virgin, an object of veneration and pilgrimages, especially at the employers' feast of 15 August.

Between 1925 and 1931, Father Jean-Baptiste Robert initiated a major expansion with the construction of an Art Deco church that was joined to the old, called Notre-Dame-des-Malades. Designed by architects Chanet and Liogier, it is distinguished by its 42-metre dome, its interior decorations signed by the Mauméjean brothers (mosaïques, marbles, mahogany), and a 67-metre bell tower completed in 1956. The ensemble, inscribed in the historical monuments in 1991, symbolizes the adaptation of religious heritage to the needs of the Vichy curists.

The church's history is marked by its emblematic parish priests, such as Nicolas Giraud, a dead refractory priest deported in 1794, or Louis Dupeyrat, who held office for 44 years (1824-1868). After the Revolution, Saint-Blaise became Vichy's main parish church, consolidating its spiritual and cultural role. The transformations of the 20th century, including stained glass windows and a modern statuary, reflect a fusion between tradition and architectural innovation.

The funeral slab of Joseph Mareschal, classified in 1924, and the annual processions around the Black Virgin testify to the liturgical continuity of the site. The building, owned by the municipality, remains an active place of worship and a remarkable example of stylistic superposition, from baroque to reinforced concrete.

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