Pont-du-Château

Pont-du-Château is a commune of the Puy-de-Dôme "département", in Auvergne, France.

Geographical situation

Located at 15 Km from Clermont-Ferrand (15 minutes by car), Pont-du-Château is a regional town laying near a strategic crossroad of motorways connecting Paris to Barcelona and Lyon to Bordeaux.Pont-du-Château, a well served city:Pont-du-Château integrated Clermont Community on January 1 2004. This union is reflecting the will to realize projects in which development and solidarity are key words. Since we joined this community, we are living on a large territory of more than 30000 square meters where live 283 000 inhabitants.

Plane:at 10 minutes of the airport of Clermont-Auvergne. 20 French cities are served daily including 6 flights at the beginning and bound for Paris - 4 Orly, 2 Roissy. 4 European cities: Amsterdam, Geneva, Milan and Turin. [http://www.airfrance.fr] / (time, reservations)

Train:at Clermont-Ferrand’ departure, 8 daily trains bound for Paris (more 1 of night) journey time 3h10 with 3h30. Daily connections with Lyon, Marseilles, Turns, etc A halt the SNCF makes it possible to connect Pont-du-Château to Clermont-Ferrand in 8 minutes. [http://www.sncf.com/] (time, reservations)

Bus:Member of Clermont the Community, the commune integrates the Perimeter of the Urban transport, the service road drunk is thus accessible with a transport document T2C. The various tariffs and schedules are accessible on [http://www.t2c.fr] Pont-du-Château a city at the crossroads of the regional parks auvergnats. At a few minutes by car you can discover the Regional Natural reserve of the Volcanos of Auvergne and the Regional Natural reserve of Livradois-Drill. [http://www.parc-volcans-auvergne.com/]

History of the city

The castle: Burnt in 1580 following an epidemic of plague, the castle is rebuilt in the middle of the XVIIe century, on the initiative of Guillaume de Montboissier Beaufort-Canillac. It profits from the financial assistance of his friend Mazarin.Museum : place de l’Aire The museum recalls the life of the boatmen and Castelpontins, through many objects, models and documents. The museum is open the every day in July and August and on return you remains to it yearOrigins of the city Three boroughs born at the time Carolingian, without one being able to give too precise dates.In the Paulhat west: already during Roman peace existed in the large marsh known under the name of Limagne, of large Gallo-Roman farms, Redon, Picou, Tourette Chazal, but at the time Carolingian the village of Paulhat grows, with the foot of the hillocks of Littes and from Ruchon… If the village of Machal, born with paleolithic under Puy de Mur disappeared, during the invasions Normans appeared on the strengthened hillock, the church co. Martine surrounded by a village which lived activities related to the river Allier… The medieval city Guy de Dampierre seized Bridge-of-Castle in 1212, on behalf of king de France, Philippe Auguste, which attached the city to the crown. Become in XIIIe century a true citadel with its “old castle” and its single enclosure, Pilippe Auguste made a garrison city, it equipping soon with two new enclosures with turns, doors, Maigne, Bise, Barrière and carries vault of it, ramparts which one guesses in the plan of the old city. Two churches enriched this inheritance: Co. Martine, beautiful building of Romanesque art whose construction is spread out over several centuries since XIIIe century, and recently restored with its rich person paintings of origin; Paulhat, disappeared from the marsh about 1356, rebuilt in the west of the fortifications in 1384, and again destroyed, it will cover in XVIe century, with the Rebirth, an astonishing architecture, a resurgence of the Romanesque art Auvergnat.The traditional city Guillaume de Montboissier Beaufort-Canilhac, lieutenant general of the army of Italy in 1654, of return in Auvergne, filled honors by Louis XIV, helped of his friend Mazarin, made build the current castle, vis-a-vis the valley Allier; a civil architecture end Louis XIII beginning Louis XIV, with his crowned northern frontage of a terrace, its perron with double revolution, its broad southern terrace which overhangs gardens with the Frenchwoman. “It is of an approval which one does not see anywere elsewhere” wrote the Audigier canon.At the century of the lightsPhilippe-Claude de Montboissier Beaufort-Canilhac, after 1750, undertook important installations in his castle: vast stables in the west, sculptures and facings ashlar of Volvic for the northern frontage of the principal masonry, installations interior facts of woodworks and paintings of the ceilings to the Frenchwoman, “the small castle”, beautiful residence at the entry of the court to receive its guests, the house of the guards, a theatre, superb cellars, without forgetting in the north of the city the park of the marquis, inspired by the famous landscape designer Ours, basins, alleys of more than 300 meters, aqueducts, thickets, etcAt the same time, between 1765 and 1773, Mr. de Régemorte designed a new stone bridge, which built Raimbaux father and wire, a bridge at our days indestructible in spite of the spectacular floods Allier, and which made it possible the royal road 89 to continue its route between Lyon and Bordeaux. Since nearly 150 years one crossed the river on a vat…The XIXe centuryPont-du-Château then had five ports : Vortille, them Palisses, Port of Bouères, Borders it St Aventin and the port of Upstream, which was the only port built on Combining it from Brioude to Moulins. The opening of the channel of Briare in 1642, the disappearance of the pélières in 1790, the coal mining of ground of Brewed protected by Colbert, the keen demand of fir trees by the masts of the fleet of Louis XIV, a wine extremely appreciated in the capital, of the hemp of good quality for gréement of the sailing ships, the reputation of papers of Auvergne and even passion of the architects for the stone of Volvic, and it was more than 3.000 fir plantations which each year descended To combine it, an incredible rise of the river navigation, a noisy harbour city of life, populated high marines colors… That the train will force a long time with silence since [1865] , before it does not wake up in the modern world after 1960