Clermont-Ferrand

Sister cities

• Regensburg
• Gomel
• Oyem
• Bizerte
• Sivas
• Marrakech
• Braga
• Anshan
• Salford
• Norman
• Aberdeen
• Oviedo

History

Clermont-Ferrand's first name was Augustonemetum, Latin for "sanctuary for Augustus", or (town of the Arverni people). It originated on the central knoll where the cathedral is situated today, overlooking the capital of . The fortified castle of Clarus Mons gave its name to the whole town in 848, to which the small episcopal town of Montferrand was attached in 1731, together taking the name of Clermont-Ferrand. The amalgamation of the two towns was decreed by Louis XIII and confirmed by Louis XV. The old part of Clermont is delimited by the route of the ramparts as they existed at the end of the Middle Ages. Clermont ranks among the oldest cities of France. The first known mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo, who called it the "metropolis of the Arverni" (meaning their oppidum civitas or tribal capital). The city was at that time called Nemessos, a Gaulish word for a sacred forest, and was situated on the mound where the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand stands today. Somewhere in the area around Nemossos, the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix (later to head a unified Gallic resistance to the Roman invasion led by Julius Caesar) was born around 72 BC. Nemossos was situated not far from the plateau of Gergovia, where Vercingetorix repulsed the Roman assault at the Battle of Gergovia in 52 BC. After the Roman conquest, the city became known as Augustonemetum. The city also boasts an expansive and largely uncharted network of manmade underground cavities, or souterrains, some of which were in use during Gallo-Roman times. The city became the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, at the time of the bishop Namatius, who built a cathedral here described by Gregory of Tours. Clermont went through a dark period after the disappearance of the Roman Empire and during the High…

Geography

Clermont-Ferrand has an oceanic climate (Cfb). The city is in the rain shadow of the Chaîne des Puys, giving it one of the driest climates in metropolitan France, except for a few places around the Mediterranean Sea. The mountains also block most of the oceanic influence of the Atlantic, which creates a much more continental climate than in nearby cities west or north of the mountains, like Limoges and Montluçon. Thus the city has comparatively cold winters and hot summers. From November to March, frost is very frequent, and the city, being at the bottom of a valley, is frequently subject to temperature inversion, in which the mountains are sunny and warm, and the plain is freezing cold and cloudy. Snow is quite common, although usually short-lived and light. Summer temperatures sometimes exceed , with violent thunderstorms. The highest temperature was reached in 2019 of while the lowest was . Clermont-Ferrand has two famous churches. One is Notre-Dame du Port, a Romanesque church which was built during the 11th and 12th centuries (the bell tower was rebuilt during the 19th century). It was nominated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The other is Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand), built in Gothic style between the 13th and the 19th centuries. * Jardin Lecoq * Parc de Montjuzet * Jardin botanique de la Charme * Arboretum de Royat * Jardin botanique d'Auvergne * Galeries of Jaude * Hôtel d'Aubière * Hôtel de Ville * Gallo-Roman wall of the Vasso Galate temple

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,592
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,456
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,861
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,723
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,707
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,652
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,236
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,220

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 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
• M 3 — 2008-09-10
  4 km E of Mont-Dore, France