Our Lady of Monton – Monumental statue of the Virgin Mary
Our Lady of Monton overlooks the charming village of Monton. Perched atop the Butte de Monton, this imposing statue boasts breathtaking views of the Auvergne mountains and Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of Auvergne.
The 21-m-tall statue of Our Lady of Monton is the fourth tallest in France and can be seen from afar.
Its construction is the result of a fervent surge of piety that emerged several decades after the French Revolution. Two Capuchin priests, Theodore and Flavien, indeed undertook a mission after Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1864 to atone for the atrocities committed.
The inhabitants of Monton rallied and launched a fundraising campaign to finance the statue’s construction. Aristide Belloc worked with the immaculate white stone from Beaucaire to create “the crowned Virgin and Child triumphantly trampling a serpent:, the symbol of the victory of good over evil.
The statue was unveiled on August 22, 1869, marking the beginning of an annual pilgrimage that still takes place to this day on the last weekend of August.
Our Lady of Monton and the gun
You may be wondering why there is a cannon at the foot of the statue. This German howitzer, manufactured in 1900 in Spandau, on the outskirts of Berlin, has a unique history: it is one of the many war trophies seized during the First World War and distributed in French cities after the conflict.
The locals installed at the foot of Our-Lady of Monton. However, in 1940, a priest from northern France, warned the villagers of the reprisals the Germans inflict on them if they discovered the cannon and took offence.
The villagers hastily removed the wheels and buried the cannon. Although the shallow burial depth left the gun’s axle partially visible, it miraculously escaped detection throughout the war!
The cannon was exhumed in 1954 and replaced at the foot of Our Lady of Monton.
The construction of its current base in 1922 required lifting the cannon with a crane to facilitate the work. This allowed its weight to be verified: 4,200 kilograms!
Department of Puy-de-Dôme
Coordinates: Lat 45.677714 – Long 3.169051
Have you yet read about the amazing troglodyte dwellings in Monton?
Credits: photos by Jean Piludu – Photo Wikimedia Commons: Header by Emg63 CC BY-SA 4.0
