Site of La Cellette

The origins of La Cellette go back to the 12th century. A monk from the priory of Marsat, near Riom in Auvergne, was returning from Palestine along the deep valley of the Chavanon. Arriving on the small amphitheatre-shaped plain, watered by the confluence of the Clidane and the Chavanon, the monk found the place favourable for meditation. He settled there and built himself a shelter which was given the Latin name of cella, a small monk's cell. The hermitage was short-lived because it had to take in other monks as soon as it became known.