Abbey Saint Austremoine, Issoire, France.

© Richard Biddiscombe/Shutterstock

Abbatiale St-Austremoine

Auvergne

LoginSave

Issoire is the proud home of the Auvergne’s most extravagantly decorated Romanesque church. The exterior of this 12th-century edifice is festooned with geometric patterns in white-and-black lava stone, dappled across great ornamental arches. Twelve signs of the zodiac in stone relief have been beautifully restored. Inside, blood-red columns are crowned with depictions from Christ’s life, from the Last Supper to the Resurrection, all painted in vivid colour.

Ask in the tourist office about summer guided tours of the church.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Notre Dame Cathedral in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

    Cathédrale Notre Dame

    18.08 MILES

    Clermont-Ferrand’s skyline broods with volcanic stone, but its most impressive edifice is Cathédrale Notre-Dame, whose 108m twin spires pierce the sky…

  • Lac Pavin and forest.

    Lac Pavin

    17.9 MILES

    This midnight-blue crater lake, enclosed by a fuzz of pine trees, lies 6km southwest of Besse. Blasted out of the earth by a volcanic explosion nearly…

  • Église Abbatiale de St-Robert

    Église Abbatiale de St-Robert

    26.58 MILES

    For Pope Clement VI, a humble tomb simply wouldn't do. The pope commissioned a palatial church to shelter his final resting place and the resulting Église…

  • Musée de la Coutellerie

    Musée de la Coutellerie

    25.77 MILES

    Split across two buildings, this museum gives an entertaining account of cutlery-making history. In number 23, a kid-friendly sound-and-light show evokes…

  • Volcan de Lemptégy

    Volcan de Lemptégy

    23.85 MILES

    Feel the Auvergne's smouldering terrain beneath your feet at this mined volcanic site, across the main road from amusement park Vulcania. In summer, at…

  • Château de Murol

    Château de Murol

    14.95 MILES

    Roosting on a basalt knoll above Murol village, the 12th-century Château de Murol offers peerless views along with insights into a brutish medieval past…

  • Musée d'Art Roger Quilliot

    Musée d'Art Roger Quilliot

    18.44 MILES

    Housed in an Ursuline convent 3km northeast of central Clermont, the city’s premier gallery takes design cues from NYC’s Guggenheim, its white spiral…

  • Musée Mandet

    Musée Mandet

    25.03 MILES

    Dating back to 1866, the Musée Mandet's splendid collection of art is arranged across two atmospheric hôtels particuliers (town houses). Exploring these…

View more attractions

Nearby Auvergne attractions

2. Usson

4.38 MILES

Designed as an impregnable citadel, the village of Usson roosts atop a volcanic plume, 8km east of Issoire. The daughter of Henry II and Catherine de…

3. Donjon de Montpeyroux

5.81 MILES

This castle keep is the stocky centrepiece of the medieval walled town of Montpeyroux, 12km north of Issoire. Montpeyroux's fortifications were built as a…

4. La Ferme Bellonte

11.93 MILES

To buy cheese from the source (and get a little muddy), take the winding road 3km uphill from St-Nectaire to this multi-generational family dairy farm…

5. Fontaines Pétrifiantes

12.78 MILES

The Papon family put St-Nectaire's hot springs to creative use at the 'Petrifying Fountains', channelling the mineral-rich waters to make art. Calcium…

6. Église de St-Nectaire

12.84 MILES

This ornate Romanesque church on a hilltop is unmissable as you arrive in St-Nectaire, and it's worth the uphill walk to look inside. Within, you'll see a…

7. Grottes du Cornadore

12.92 MILES

Don a hard hat for a 45-minute tour of St-Nectaire's Roman baths, deep in a cave that glimmers with damp limestone. Two-thousand years ago, these man-made…

8. Maison du Fromage

12.98 MILES

Pick a round of St-Nectaire cheese, along with terrines, jams and other regional nibbles, from this dairy shop across the road from the Grottes du…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "france/pays-d-issoire/attractions/abbatiale-st-austremoine/a/poi-sig/1535710/1341165",
  "destination": "Auvergne",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "France",
  "region": "Auvergne",
  "position": "superzone"
}