The Town Hall
The Hôtel de Chaze rat
This town house was built during the 1760s by Antoine de Chazerat. Inspired by antiquity and contemporary tastes, built in Volvic stone, the house was originally whitewashed. The entrance consists of a semi-circular gateway, giving onto an oval courtyard, the only one in France. You can also admire the guilded salon, the Corinthian columns, the tympana with gypsum medallions, as well as two horse busts. At the time of the Revolution, the house was sold to the town of Clermont-Ferrand. It was returned to Antoine de Chazerat between 1806 and 1824, and then became the property of the bishopric, then a hospital and then an annexe to the Faculté de Lettres (School of Humanities) until 1937. It subsequently housed the tax authorities and is currently home to the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (Regional Department for Cultural Affairs).
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Le mur des Sarrasins (Saracens’ Wall)
Opposite Nestor Perret school, in the courtyard of a building in Rue Rameau, there are the most important remains of the time when Clermont was called Augustonemetum. Measuring 7 metres high by 1.80 metres thick and made of blocks of volcanic rock, it could be part of the famous Vasso Galate temple built during the Gallo-Roman era. Incorporated within the walls of a small fortress, it was rediscovered when that was demolished, in 1939.
The Amboise fountain
In spite of five centuries of existence and successive moves, the beauty of its Gothic structure and the delicacy of its Renaissance decoration have not been dimmed. An inscription in Latin recalls that the fountain was made in 1511, for the Bishop of the diocese of Clermont. It was installed in front of the Cathedral’s southern entrance. The octagonal base, decorated with bas-reliefs, contains 8 arms, each projecting a flow of water. The central pillar is crowned by a gothic lamp. In addition to being a glorious monument, the fountain leaves an enduring message to the people of Clermont-Ferrand, translated by a Clermont fountain maker: to the east, with the book binding, begins a succession of seasons portraying the development of the world; above, characters or open mouths are depicted, representing for the fountain maker the word, which can either edify or destroy, and above that, in parallel with the seasons the progress from child to man, then to dragon and finally to melusina. A real illustrative treasure-trove, there is also a representation of a child who, on becoming adolescent, strikes down a lion; or a bat as well as many other characters. At the top is a savage (as depicted on the 1513 gate tympanum), armed with a club and looking south west, symbolising a person freed from his chains and rising up, towards Jerusalem. This magnificent fountain enabled the people of Clermont to fetch water which had come directly from Royat, in 1573. In 1808, the fountain was moved to the Place Delille, and then to the junction of Cours Sablon and the Rue des Capucins, in 1855. In 1962, finally, it arrived in Place de la Poterne at the top of the Clermont knoll. 
General Desaix’s Obelisk
The obelisk was erected in 1801, in memory of General Desaix, who died at the battle of Marengo in 1800. The obelisk was placed in the middle of a fountain, on which were inscribed General Desaix’s military campaigns. In 1903, the fountain was decorated for a visit by the French leaders of the time, in contradiction of the edifice’s funerary purpose. This did not prevent the fountain from being transformed into a flower bed in 1957. The fountain was finally restored in 1987, along with the other fountains in the town.
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Notre Dame du Port
A first church was built in the VI century in honour of the Virgin Mary. Destroyed by the Norsemen in the IX century, it was restored and served as the basis of the current Romanesque church built in the XII century. Built of arkose (before the opening of the Volvic quarries in the XII century), the structure is gloriously harmonious thanks to its dimensions, which respect the Golden Ratio. Ever since 1614, when 8,000 people organised a procession on Ascension day following a disastrous winter, the procession on the first Sunday following the 15th May has always been a lively event. The year 1615 saw such an abundance of wheat that the 15th May was declared a solemn festival and holiday. The chevet is the most accomplished part of Notre-Dame-du-Port, even if it is not possible to stand far enough away to fully appreciate its proportions. The crown of chapels either side forms the base of a pyramid whose summit is the top of octagonal bell tower (1843).
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Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption
Taking 654 years to build (1248-1902), the cathedral remains for many the emblem of the town. Begun by Jean Deschamps under the episcopacy of Hugh de la Tour in 1248, it replaced two or three other sanctuaries built in the same place between the fifth and tenth centuries. The choir, the transept and the beginning of the nave were completed around 1295. Three other spans were completed by about 1350. The final span, the narthex and the spires were completed in 1884, using Viollet-le-Ducs plans. In 1794, revolutionaries wanted to demolish the church, but the Benedictine Verdier-Latour succeeded in persuading them that it would be a suitable place for popular gatherings. Only a few statues were destroyed...
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The Opera House
An Opera house is no ordinary building. It is the ultimate performance space, both lyrical and theatrical. Its location, on the corner of Jaude Square and the Boulevard Desaix, puts it in the centre of the entertainment district, in the heart of the town. It is an essentially horizontal building, looking out through beautiful windows and richly decorated around the top. From one point of view, this theatre is too discreet, it is not possible to step back far enough in Boulevard Desaix to admire its attractive façade, with its sculpted allegories of the theatrical arts. Designed by the architect Teillard (who was town architect at the time) and built between 1891 and 1894 on the site of the former cloth market, to replace the previous theatre in the Place Royale (Place de la Victoire), its main façade gives on to Boulevard Desaix, this being the only side deep enough to take the succession of entrance hall, main staircase and the hall itself, along with its stage. This location has every appearance of an Italianate theatre: a guilded hall, beautiful painted cupola, an overall impression of warmth, like a candy box.
The statue of Vercingetorix
On 12 October 1903, the statue of Vercingetorix mounted on a house was completed and inaugurated in what is now the Place de Jaude. Sculpted by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), who also produced the Belfort Lion and the Statue of Liberty, the bronze statue of Vercingetorix was only installed after much prevarication. A wooden replica was first placed on rollers and moved to different parts of the town and pointed in every direction. The artist produced his first study in 1866, then a plaster model presented at the 1870 Salon (visible at the Clermont-Ferrand musée des Beaux-Arts). In 1886 patriotic donations were called for to produce the bronze statue. The original was installed facing the Puy-De-Dôme, another symbol of Auvergne and local pride.
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The intendants
The intendants of justice, police and finances of the District of Riom and the Province of Auvergne resided at number 2, Rue Pascal. Agents of the king, after 1666, intendants were an essential part of the provincial administrative system. Among Auvergne’s intendants was Chazerat, who was appointed in 1770 and kept his position until the Revolution.
Savaron House
Hughes Savaron, King’s counsellor, and his wife Françoise Terrisse built their new town house in 1513, this date appears on the corbel in the first floor external gallery. While the outside façade appears austere, the courtyard is richly decorated: overhanging vaults, ornate turret door. This turret, a gothic structure, contains prismatic moulded doorframes, an ogee gable decorated with pinnacles, ornamented with hangers and a cabbage leaf decoration. The tympanum under the arches has a decoration depicting rebirth: 3 savages, one holding a bull head bucrane. The two others bear the emblem of the Savaron family.
Church of Notre-Dame de la Prospérité (XIV-XVI century)
Located in Montferrand, it is build of Volvic lava, in the Languedoc Gothic style, and has interesting gargoyles.
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