Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue is an old town which particularly flourished in the Middle Ages. Indeed, Tracol was a gateway to Puy-en-Velay for merchants from the Rhone Valley. The suffix "Rue" in its name probably comes from the name of the nearby castle of Ru, which may be named from the Germanic word "Ruda", which means clearing. In 1061, the lord Artaud Argental bequeathed his property to the monks of
La Chaise-Dieu, for them to build a priory at Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue (1062-1401). Pilat is so sparsely populated. Saint-Sauveur had fortifications; some remain near the retirement home, a watchtower and a door above the gym. The town is surrounded by the fortified house of Ru and Bobigneux Castle (now a hostel). In the seventeenth century, were tunnels were dug underground between the castles and churches of the canton. The village has 35 crosses. The most important is on a rock; this is the cross of Perthuis or Ascension. This cross is the most important because the procession stopped in front of the rock as the priest blessed the participants. This cross is on the D503 at the place called Le Griotet. These crosses were built in the seventeenth century and were preserved during the French Revolution by the villagers. During the Revolution, March 16, 1794, Father Robert, vicar of Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue, refractory priest who refused to take the oath, was executed in Lyon after secretly hearing the confessions of many detainees. Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue became prosperous in the early twentieth century by exploiting the Taillard forest to produce shoring timbers for the mines around Saint-Étienne. Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue was then connected by train (Line Saint-Rambert D'Albon - Firminy). In the early 1970s, a seismic sensor station was built in the old railway tunnel in Badol (a hamlet east of Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue). Its importance has increased since 1993, It detected the earthquake in Chile in 2010, Japan in 2011 and Sumatra in 2004. Today, the village is mainly a bedroom community; many people work in Saint-Étienne, the basin annonéen and the Rhône Valley. However, there are many artisans and shops. Currently, the inhabitants are called “les Picatios d’âne” from the
Occitan language, a
stephanois patois phrase that means "those who poke donkey butt", because it was the only way to spur donkeys forward on the grade of the Tracol. During the Second World War, in 1944, the Allies damaged a tank with a sidewalk (now repaired). The road between the Tracol to the Cerralier cross (GR65, GR7) was made by German prisoners of war. ==Wind farm==