Orcival - Notre-Dame

"Notre-Dame d'Orcival" is a masterpiece of romanesque architecture in the Auvergne. Towering above the small village of Orcival (pop. 250) it was built within the second half of the 12th century on a steep slope. There are no proof records about the construction, as the archives were looted, but lots of legends are still around.

The Virgin herself should have been here, drinking water from a certain spring.

It was not the first church built on that place, that may even have been a special/holy place already during celtic times. The church was part of a small priory, belonging to La Chaise-Dieu and being a church of pilgrimage since the very beginning. Damaged (like Mozac) by the earthquakes (1478), it was reconstructed. During the Revolution the complete wooden furniture was burnt. The statue of the "Virgin in Majesty", created around 1170 and since then the center of The statue of the "Virgin in Majesty", created around 1170 and since then the center of the pilgrimage, was sealed inside a wall - and survived.

The vast majority of the 231 capitals in and outside "Notre-Dame d'Orcival" depicts "corinthian" foliage. They are probably inspired by the ruins of a roman temple on the Puy de Dôme and the baths at Mont-Dore which were still standing at the time. I could not find any capital being thematically connected with the bible, like that one in Royat.

Here is a mermaid holding her braids, accompanied by a bird (eagle?).