Saint-Austremoine Abbey and the streets of Issoire

Park at Place Pierre Veysseire, free car park near the cemetery.
Please note that this walk is not signposted.

(S/E) With your back to the cemetery and the roundabout, follow Rue des Chapelles, turn left onto Rue du 8 Mai (fountain on the left), then left onto Boulevard Albert Buisson. Turn into the first street on the right, Rue du Palais (at the corner of the BNP). Pass in front of the former Benedictine convent and arrive in front of the former Caisse d'Épargne. Turn left onto Rue de la Berbiziale, then right onto Place Saint-Avit (fountain) to rejoin Rue du Palais and continue to the left. Arrive in front of the Town Hall, at the crossroads with Boulevard Triozon-Bayle.

(1) Follow this boulevard to the right until you reach the roundabout, then turn left onto Rue de la Gare. Opposite the station, walk a few metres to the right, then enter Square René Cassin. On the other side of the park, turn left until you reach the Albert Ricard footbridge over the Couze Pavin.

Do not cross the river, but turn around and turn left onto the car park (beautiful painted wall at the edge of the car park) and continue straight ahead onto Rue de la Cascade. Follow Boulevard Triozon-Bayle to the left until you reach the bridge over the Couze Pavin.

(2) With your back to the bridge, cross the boulevard to take Rue du Pont opposite and immediately turn right onto Rue de la Fontaine. Walk to the end of Impasse du Parguet and back to see the canal of the same name. Return to Rue de la Fontaine and continue left.

Turn left onto Rue de l'Espaillat, follow Rue Saint-Antoine to the right for a few metres, then turn left onto Rue de la Ferronnerie. Turn right onto this street and, at the crossroads, follow Rue de la Teraille to the left. Cross Boulevard de la Manlière and continue straight ahead onto Rue de Barrière. Further on, walk along the Canal de Barrière, cross the footbridge and turn left onto Chemin de Barrière.

(3) Behind the wash house, turn right onto Rue des Lavandières. Turn right onto Rue du Postillon, cross Boulevard de la Manlière again and continue straight ahead on Rue de Châteaudun to reach Place de la République. Go around it on the right.

At the south-east corner of the square, at the Maison aux Arcades, take Rue Pissevin for a few metres. Turn right onto Rue du Fer, walk to number 3, then return to Rue Pissevin and follow it to the right. Turn right onto Rue du Chien, then left onto Rue des Fours. Turn left onto Place Nicolas Pomel to arrive in front of the Abbey Church of Saint-Austremoine. A must-see.

(4) Then follow Parvis Raoul Ollier to the right with the old abbey on your right. Arrive at Place Saint-Paul and go around the abbey on the right. Continue straight on Rue Gambetta to arrive back at Place de la République. Go around it on the right, then follow Rue du Ponteil to the right and turn left with it at the Tour de l'Horloge.

You will arrive at Boulevard de la Manlière. Cross it, then cross Place de la Halle. Take Rue du 8 Mai on the left and immediately turn right onto Rue des Chapelles to reach the car park at Place Pierre Veysseire (S/E).

Very easy urban hike, comfortable shoes are sufficient

Discover more walks in this area with a description or the Visorando app in Puy-de-Dôme here

Some photos here

Between (S) and (1) Former Caisse d'Épargne. An eclectic-style building constructed to house this social organisation founded in Issoire in 1861. Brick façade with protruding joints and limestone decoration. Bas-reliefs illustrating themes of prosperity and power (trophies, lion heads, cornucopias, sheaves of wheat, garlands). Dormer windows with fins and faux marble decoration.

(1) Town Hall. Former town hall and school in an eclectic style with a sandstone rubble façade and limestone decoration. In front of the steps, an Art Deco-style basket carrier (1926).

Between (1) and (2) Statue of the Lacemaker (1926) in Square René Cassin. It is possible that it was created as a tribute to the lace makers of Issoire, who are part of the long tradition of Auvergne lace. In particular, Le Puy-en-Velay is said to be the birthplace of lace, which flourished in the region from^{the 15th century} until the Revolution.

Trompe l'oeil in the waterfall car park.

Between (2) and (3) Impasse du Parguet, one of the oldest districts of the town, renovated in 2010. It is crossed by the Canal du Parguet, lined with houses with wash house stones.

(3) Barrière leat and wash house. The Guillard Canal originates in the west of the city, from a diversion of the Couze Pavin. It takes the name Canal de Barrière from the eponymous mill, then heads towards the city. A spillway here allows the water level to be controlled.

Between (3) and (4) Place de la République. A large square in the Middle Ages, where markets were held. The façades of the mansions that line it were remodelled in the 18th and^19th centuries. At the rear are the main buildings with stair towers and inner courtyards, on a medieval strip-shaped plot. In the perspective of Rue de Châteaudun is the Fontaine des Quatre Saisons (1823) fountain in Volvic stone.

Facades of Nos. 6, 8 and 9 of the Hôtel de Rochelambert (18th century). Several classically designed façades line the south-western side of the square. At No. 6, there is an elegant carved andesite doorway with pilasters and an entablature inspired by antiquity. At No. 9, there is a carriage entrance and a balcony on corbels.

Hôtel Clément. At No. 34, the building dates from the late^15th, 16th and^18th centuries. It is a large urban mansion consisting of two buildings connected by a tall^15th-century quadrangular stair tower. Its two façades feature a superimposition of old shop windows from the late Middle Ages and the 17th and^18th centuries. Wrought iron railings with scroll motifs and a corner niche with a Gothic canopy housing a statue of Saint Austremoine.

Maison aux Arcades. Located at 1 Rue Pissevin, this building dates from the late 15th, 16th and^18th centuries and is the only residence built on Gothic arcades. It is the birthplace of Gabriel Roux (1853-1914), a researcher and doctor whose work contributed to the discovery of penicillin.

Hôtel Bohier. At No. 3 Rue du Fer, the building dates from the 16th, 17th and^18th centuries. It is a Renaissance mansion whose construction is attributed to an important family of the urban elite of consuls, royal officers and clergy. Imposing arkose stone portal with a bossed frame and a protruding keystone.^18th-century façade.

(4) Saint-Austremoine Abbey Church, dating from^{the 12th} century, built in arkose (sandstone), on a typical pilgrimage church plan, with an ambulatory choir and radiating chapels on a semi-buried crypt. The chevet is richly decorated with small columns, capitals, string courses, mosaics with geometric patterns and medallions depicting the signs of the zodiac. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1847. Outside, walk around the transept and along the nave. Enter the church through the façade, which was rebuilt in 1841 (^15th-century painting of the Last Judgement in the current shop, on the right). The nave is reinforced by aisles and galleries. The capitals are decorated with griffins, centaurs and eagles. The painted decoration is by Anatole Dauvergne (1859). The capitals in the choir are dedicated to the cycle of the Passion and Resurrection. The rib-vaulted ambulatory surrounds the sanctuary and leads to the five radiating chapels. Access to the crypt (a superb foreshadowing of the choir) is via a staircase at the entrance to the ambulatory (^13th-century enamelled shrine).

Between (4) and (E) Hôtel Charrier. At No. 18 Place de la République, the building dates from the 15th and^18th centuries. The andesite portal has a pointed arch tympanum carved with a flamboyant Gothic arcature decoration. It is a large dwelling bearing the name of one of the oldest families of the medieval urban bourgeoisie. In 1592, it was the scene of an event during the Wars of Religion, the assassination of the city's governor, Yves Allègre.

Hôtel Duprat. Located at 27 Place de la République and 4/6 Rue de la Berbiziale, the building dates from the late^15th, 16th and^18th centuries. It is recognisable by its rectangular corbelled turret. The ground floor still bears traces of the arched openings of former shops and workshops. It is the birthplace of Antoine Duprat (1463-1515), cardinal and advisor to François^I.