Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand in the Puy-de-Dôme Department1 of France is located in a plain below a chain of dormant volcanoes, the highest of which is Puy-de-Dôme. As of 2010 it had 137 thousand residents.2 The tallest building by architectural height is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption (315 feet, Gothic style), while the tallest skyscraper is the Tours Liondards (22 stories, 207 feet).3 The Basilique Notre-Dame du Port is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site called Routes of Santiage de Compostella in France. It was built in the Romanesque style prior to the tenth century (although rebuilt after being burned by the Normans, and with additions as late as the 19th century).4 The world headquarters of Michelin (tires) is located in this industrial city.
Blaise Pascal, the mathematician, philosopher and physicist, was born here.
External references
City scape of Clermont-Ferrand, including the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption, with the Puy-de-Dôme volcano in the distance; Puy-de-Dôme Department, Auvergne Region, France
Footnotes
1. Auvergne Region.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communes_in_France_with_over_20,000_inhabitants, accessed 2/8/2015.
3. Emporis.com, accessed 3/3/2015.
4. The list of churches, etc., for the Site is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sites_of_the_Routes_of_Santiago_de_Compostela_in_France, accessed 2/8/2015. Details on the basilica are from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Notre-Dame_du_Port, accessed 3/10/2015.
