Aubière

Sister cities

• Genzano di Roma

History

The earliest traces of the commune date back to the 13th century, when it was within the outer walls of a castle. Until the end of the 19th century, Aubière featured a sizeable winemaking industry, which ended after the phylloxera epidemic. Proof of that is the fact that most of the houses in the village contain a wine vat, and numerous wine cellars were built on the north and south edges of the Artière valley. Today there is only one wine producer in the village. The distinctive feature of these wine cellars is that they were constructed above ground because the water that runs under the houses creates a large amount of humidity in the basement. Thus, an urban legend has that people used to speak of going “up to the cellar” rather than “down to the cellar”. The Aubière Vine and Wine Museum preserves the traditional tools used in winemaking as well as most archival documents. The scope of this museum is not restricted to the village of Aubière, but covers wine produced elsewhere in Auvergne as well.

Geography

Aubière is located south of Clermont-Ferrand in the heart of the Puy-de-Dôme department, 3.7 km south-east of the city of Clermont-Ferrand. It borders the villages of Beaumont, Romagnat, Pérignat-lès-Sarliève, and Cournon-d’Auvergne. The Artière river, a tributary of the Allier, flows through the village from west to east. The river, a large part of which is underground, can flood at any moment. The quality of its water deteriorates when it converges with the Gazelle river, one of its tributaries. * A75 autoroute with two exits * Metropolitan road 2009 (formerly route nationale 9) * Other metropolitan roads: 21 (towards Romagnat), 69, 212 (towards Cournon-d'Auvergne and Billom), 777, 805 The nearest railway stations are located in the neighbouring commune of Clermont-Ferrand: the Gare de Clermont-Ferrand and the Gare de Clermont-La Pardieu. Since August 27, 2007, Aubière has contained three stops (Cézeaux Pellez, Campus, and Margeride) of the Clermont-Ferrand tramway. There are four bus lines (3, 12, 13, and 21).

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,613
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,495
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,836
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,733
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,686
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,657
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,240
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,234

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2022-05-09
  5 km SW of Villebret, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-11-16
  4 km N of Saint-Georges-de-Mons, France
• M 3 — 2008-11-04
  2 km NE of Chaudes-Aigues, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-09-12
  5 km E of Mont-Dore, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-09-12
  9 km SSW of Saint-Sauves-d'Auvergne, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-09-11
  7 km SW of Aydat, France