Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges church, Heritage church in Aurillac, France

Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges church in Aurillac has rough grey stone walls and a steep shingled roof, with a slender clock spire rising near the centre. Tall narrow arched windows sit in projecting stone panels below a row of smaller arched windows above a red terracotta ledge. A lower stone annex with a rounded arched doorway adjoins the right side, and a square bell tower with dark arched openings and a clock stands beside the nave.

Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges began as the chapel of a Cordeliers convent founded in the Middle Ages; the Italian source dates the convent chapel to the 14th century. It was restored in the 17th century, and the bell tower was added only in 1848. The building is listed as a monument historique inscrit.

The name recalls 5 August 1581, when, according to legend, the Virgin made it snow and the Catholics of Aurillac drove back the Protestants; the church is dedicated to Saint Mary of the Snows, celebrated on that date. The building began as the chapel of a Cordeliers convent, a French Franciscan order.

The church stands in the centre of Aurillac, in the Cantal department of Auvergne. The bell tower added in 1848 rises on the side of the building, next to a lighter stone house with white shutters and a wrought-iron balcony. The main door opens under a rounded arch in the lower structure attached to the right of the nave.

The name commemorates 5 August 1581, when, according to legend, the Virgin Mary made it snow over Aurillac and let the Catholics drive back the Protestants during the Wars of Religion. The feast of Saint Mary of the Snows falls on that same day.