From Romagnat to Gergovie

The Gergovie seasonal office is located on the Gergovie plateau, close to the Musée Archéologique de la Bataille de Gergovie.Services on offer: - Personalized advice: hikes, tips, tourist accommodation, restaurants, events, city tours, heritage, sports and leisure activities, visits, exhibitions, shows and other events. - Foreign language spoken: English What to see and do around the seasonal tourist information office? The Gergovie plateau is an archeological site emblematic of the Gallic War and Vercingetorix's victory over Julius Caesar. Its history can be discovered in the on-site Musée archéologique de la Bataille de Gergovie. The Gergovie plateau is also a 70-hectare natural site some ten kilometers south of Clermont-Ferrand. The path around it leads to magnificent views of the Puy de Dôme and the Chaîne des Puys - Limagne fault, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Serre mountain, the Puy de Sancy and the Monts Dore volcanic massif. This vast terrain is ideal for hiking, mountain biking, trail running and kite flying.

The Romagnat town hall is located in the neo-Louis XIII style Château de Bezance, revamped in the 19th century.At the Renaissance, residential château emerged on the outskirts of cities, along with large farming estates. A first château was built by Robert I of Auvergne, in the late 12th century, at the corner of rue Maréchal-Foch and rue des Alliés. Its remains are hard to see. The present-day Château de Bezance was built in the 19th century to replace a château dating back to 1650, built by the Carmantrand family, lords of the fiefdom of Bezance. Their hammered coats of arms are displayed above the door. In 1862, Pierre Léon Bérard de Chazelles (1804-1876), mayor of Clermont Ferrand from 1850 to 1860 and deputy of Puy-de-Dôme, became the owner. His daughter Marie-Madeleine married Baron Hubert Clerel de Tocqueville in 1860. His grandson, Bernard de Tocqueville, the last owner, sold the château and its land to the municipality in 1961. The neo-Louis XIII château is in a U-shape, with an additional wing on the west side. On the north façade, a staircase with convergent steps overlooks the park. The buildings are covered with slate roofs and a Mansard roof. The eastern wing retains a monumental staircase made from Volvic stone, from the 18th century. A decommissioned chapel, service quarters and stables complete the buildings. Inside the château, some decorative features remain (wood joinery, fireplaces, overdoors). The château has housed the town hall since 1976. The park has been certified a “Refuge” by the Ligue de Protection des Oiseaux (LPO, French society for protection of birds) since 2011.

Le Plateau de Gergovie est un belvédère basaltique offrant un vaste panorama sur les volcans d’Auvergne et la plaine de la Limagne, au cœur d’un site naturel remarquable.Situé à une dizaine de kilomètres au sud de Clermont-Ferrand, le Plateau de Gergovie forme une vaste table basaltique dominant la Limagne et les paysages environnants. Perché à 744 m d’altitude, il offre un belvédère naturel remarquable né d’une ancienne coulée de lave issue de la Chaîne des Puys, modelant un relief inversé caractéristique. Lieu emblématique de l’histoire arverne, le plateau fut au Ier siècle avant notre ère un important oppidum regroupant habitat, activités politiques et fonctions défensives. C’est ici que Vercingétorix infligea à Jules César sa seule défaite lors de la Guerre des Gaules en 52 av. J.-C., conférant au site une notoriété durable. Au-delà de son héritage historique, Gergovie se distingue par son patrimoine naturel d’exception. Son versant oriental est classé en zone Natura 2000 pour la richesse de ses milieux secs : pelouses calcaires, orchidées rares, papillons protégés, reptiles et nombreuses espèces d’oiseaux nicheurs ou migrateurs témoignent de la grande biodiversité du site. Ces habitats sensibles bénéficient de mesures de conservation spécifiques Le plateau offre enfin un panorama spectaculaire à 360°, permettant de lire la géographie de l’Auvergne d’un seul regard. On y observe la Chaîne des Puys – inscrite au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO –, le massif du Sancy, les monts du Forez, la plaine de la Limagne et, par temps clair, les Cévennes et les contreforts du Massif central. Cette combinaison unique de paysages, de richesse écologique et d’histoire en fait un site naturel majeur en France.

Église Saint-Saturnin de Romagnat dates back to the 12th century. Damaged during the French Revolution, it was renovated and modified in the 19th century.Located within the walls of the former village fort, Église Saint-Saturnin was a stage on the path to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century it featured a central nave and the sacristy. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the church was extended by adding an aisle on the north side, then on the south side in the 18th century. Part of the belfry was built in the 14th century. On the inside, some keystones are decorated with a coat of arms, the head of a bishop and arch corbels of faces traditionally identified with those of the lords of Montrognon and their wives. In the 19th century, after the French Revolution and the pillaging, the parishioners and the municipality joined forces to repair the church. The architect Hugues Imbert (1807-1876) designed the church choir, an example of neo-classical architecture. An architect of the Clermont-Ferrand city hospices, he is also responsible for the chapel of the general hospital, Église Saint-Eutrope in Clermont-Ferrand and the façade on Église Saint-Martin in Ceyrat. The church was inaugurated in 1835. The sacristy was then converted into a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church’s current slate roof is not in line with local tradition, which favours red roof tiles. The current belfry was raised in 1893 and houses the bell installed in 1921. The municipality of Romagnat has two other churches: Église Saint-Bonnet at Opme (listed as a historic monument) and Église Saint-Avit at Saulzet-le-Chaud.