|
|
 |
| |
|
Home > Travel France > France Destinations > Clermont Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and comprises various overseas islands and territories which are located in other regions. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. At 674,843 square kilometers, France is the world's 40th-largest country after Myanmar. France is a member of The European Union and Paris is the capital of this nation. The sole official language of France is French. Since prehistoric times, France has been a crossroads of trade, migrations, and invasions.
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of approximately 140,000.It is the capital of the Puy-de-Dome department. It sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major industrial area. The city is famous for the chain of volcanoes surrounding it. The Puy-de-Dome is 13 kilometers from the city is the highest of these and well-known for the telecommunication antennas that sit on its top and are visible from far away.
Clermont ranks among the oldest cities of France. The first known mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo. The city was at that time called Nemessos a Gaulish word for a sacred forest. It witnessed the famous Battle of Gergovia won by the Gauls led by Vercingetorix over the Romans led by Julius Caesar, in 52 BC, Before Christ. After the Roman conquest, the city was called Augustonemetum, a name which combined its original Gallic name with that of the Emperor Augustus. Its population was estimated at 15,000 to 30,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century, making it one of the largest cities of Roman Gaul. The population of Clermort-Ferrand in 1999 census was 137 140.
In the 20th century, the construction of the Michelin factories and city gardens, which shaped the modern Clermont-Ferrand, definitively reunited Clermont and Montferrand. Today, although the two cities are amalgamated, one may find in Clermont-Ferrand two distinct downtowns, and Montferrand retains a strong identity.
Back to France Destinations
|
|
|
|
|
|
|