Clermont-Ferrand

France

Clermont-Ferrand is a city in the Auvergne, central France, and the prefecture of Puy-de-Dôme. Under Rome, as Augustonemetum, it was the chief town of the Arverni; it became a bishop's seat in the 5th century, and Sidonius Apollinaris headed the diocese from about 469 until his death in the 480s, years in which the city was ceded to the Visigoths. Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont in 1095, and Blaise Pascal was born in the city in 1623. Clermont and neighbouring Montferrand were joined in 1630, a union confirmed in 1731. The city is home to the Michelin tyre company.