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Pays d’Issoire in Auvergne,
Land of Art and History
Here in Pays d’Issoire, the imprint of history with a small and large H has marked the landscape, the local way of life and the collective memory. This region, endowed with quite a favourable climate, was inhabited early on, via the ancestral communications routes.
Of all this, traces remain: Romanesque art, including the splendid Saint-Austremoin abbey, the ruins of impressive medieval fortresses, such as in Usson or Nonette, the village forts built by local inhabitants to defend themselves, the castles, the villages with their winemaker architecture, the terraces or pailhats for growing grapes and fruit trees, the headframes in the mining basin… and much else besides…
Pays d’Issoire, recognised for the quality of its architectural, artistic and landscape heritage, and its commitment to introduce it to others, has been awarded the Land of Art and History label by the French Culture Ministry.
Visits are also organised on request for groups: contact the Tourist Office on 04 73 89 15 90.
