Stroll around Saint-Jean-Lachalm

When arriving in Saint-Jean-Lachalm from the south via the D333 or D34, park at the entrance to the village in a small car park on the right-hand side of the road, almost opposite the bar-restaurant-tobacconist-petrol station...

(S/E) Continue on the D34 which crosses the village. Shortly afterwards, between the houses on the left, there is a view of the Allier Gorges. Take the first street on the right, between beautiful stone houses of different colours. You will come back onto the D34 opposite the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste.

(1) Continue for about 150 metres to the right until you reach the intersection marked with a cross, where you will find a wash house in front of the town hall and a beautiful series of drinking troughs to the right of the town hall. Retrace your steps back to the church. (The church was open when we visited.)
(1) Leaving the church, pass the large iron cross on your right, then turn right onto the street. At the fork, near an old cheese dairy and a drinking trough, turn left onto the street. At the next intersection, turn right and then take a path on the right that leads to an old grassy square, where you can still see a wash house, a well and drinking troughs.

(2) Go up the path on the left to return to a street. Follow it to the right and shortly afterwards you will see a beautiful carved wooden door on the right. Ignore all the streets on the left. At the T-junction, turn left to reach the centre of the village (enamelled lava information panel about the village). Follow the main street (D34) to the right to return to the small car park (S/E).

Walk, no special equipment required

Discover more walks in this area with a description or the Visorando app here

Some photos here

The village is built on the western flank of Devès, overlooking the Allier Gorges with a height difference of over 400 metres. Its black volcanic soil has made agriculture the main economic activity in the area, particularly the cultivation of lentils.

In 1025, Odilon de Mercœur founded the Sainte-Croix de Lavoute-Chilhac priory. On this occasion, he donated the Church of Saint-Jean, located in the Mercœur fiefdom, to the new priory.

The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny was founded in Burgundy in 910. By the 11th century, a network of 1,400 Cluniac sites had spread throughout Christendom, as far as Jerusalem. This network was not only a driving force for spirituality but also for artistic and economic development, leaving a lasting mark on the European Middle Ages.

Saint-Jean-Lachalm, with its Burgundian-style glazed tile roof, preserves the memory of the influence of Cluny Abbey.