Jane Awake

2007年11月12日月曜日

Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergnat dialect of Occitan: Clarmont-Ferrand / Clarmont d'Auvèrnhe) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of approximately 140,000 (2005). Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census.
It is the prefecture (capital) of the Puy-de-Dôme department. Serge Godard is the current Mayor of the city.
Clermont-Ferrand 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 Chaîne des Puys. The Puy-de-Dôme (13km 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-Ferrand's most famous public square is place de Jaude, on which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix sitting imperiously on a horse and holding a glaive. The inscription reads: J'ai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous (English: I took to arms for the liberty of all). This statue was sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi who also created the Statue of Liberty.

History
Food manufacture as well as engineering are major employers in the area, as are the many research facilities of major computer software and pharmaceutical companies. The French tyre manufacturer Michelin created the radial tyre and grew up from Clermont-Ferrand to become a worldwide leader in its industry. It has kept its headquarters in the city.

Émile Durkheim

Culture
Clermont-Ferrand has two famous churches :

Notre-Dame du Port: a Romanesque church built during the 11th and 12th centuries (the bell tower was rebuilt during the 19th century). It was nominated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998.
Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-ferrand): a Gothic church built between the 13th and the 19th centuries. Famous people