Église Saint-Austremoine

The Église Saint-Austremoine is in Issoire, a town on the river Allier south of Clermont-Ferrand, in the Auvergne. The church is one of the great Romanesque buildings of central France, and the largest Romanesque church in the Auvergne, and it is worth the detour for anyone interested in medieval architecture.

The abbey church was built in the twelfth century and is among the largest and best preserved Romanesque churches in the Auvergne. It is dedicated to Austremonius, the missionary who is traditionally said to have been the first bishop of Clermont, and whose cult was centred at Issoire, where he was said to be buried. The outside is best seen from the east end, where a cluster of radiating chapels and apses rises in stepped tiers, built of dark volcanic stone and pale local stone laid in decorative patterns. The carved and patterned bands around the apse, which include the signs of the zodiac, are among the best-known pieces of sculpture in the region.

Inside, the nave is tall and plain in structure, but it is covered with painted decoration in red, ochre and blue, which the painter Anatole Dauvergne carried out between 1855 and 1860 and which gives the interior an unusually rich look for a Romanesque church. The carved capitals along the nave and choir show scenes and ornaments typical of the Auvergne school, and the church's length of about sixty-five metres makes it the most spacious of the great Romanesque churches of the region, so it is the overall volume that impresses. A visit takes about forty minutes, and it combines well with a walk through the old streets of Issoire.

Issoire itself is a small market town on the Allier, and the old streets around the church are pleasant to explore on foot. The church was built in the twelfth century over an earlier building, perhaps Merovingian in date. Allow time to walk right round the outside, because the east end looks different from each angle, and look up at the banded stonework of the chapels, where dark basalt and pale arkose make a pattern that catches the afternoon light.

The church suits architecture lovers and anyone exploring the Romanesque heritage of the Auvergne. Check locally for opening arrangements and the times of services.