Puy-de-Dôme is a département in the center of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.
History
Puy-de-Dôme was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called Mont d'Or ("golden mountain"), but this was judged not to be a very egalitarian name.
Geography
Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current région of Auvergne and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, and Creuse.
The department is in the Massif Central and boasts more than 80 volcanic craters. It is three hours from Paris and an hour from Lyon by highways A71 and A72. The A75 links it to the Mediterranean Sea.
Cities include Thiers, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand, and Cournon .
External links
Last updated: 08-02-2005 21:23:08
