©Horse Napoleon Cantal Meyssonier Adobestock 960x640 1|Adobe stock

History and specific heritage

History and heritage in the Pays d’Aurillac is a plunge into the roots of a territory marked by centuries of heritage. From its emblematic monuments to its preserved traditions, every stone and every story bears witness to a rich and captivating past. Let yourself be transported through the ages and discover the historical and heritage treasures that shape the unique identity of this region.

The burons du cantal

The burons, whose name comes from the Occitan term “boria” meaning “farm”, appeared between the XVIᵉ and XVIIᵉ centuries. These buildings were at the heart of transhumance: every summer, herds of Salers cows climbed to the estives to take advantage of the lush pastures.

The burons served as living quarters for the buronniers and production centers for dairy products, notably the famous Cantal cheese.

Typically built of volcanic stone and covered with lauzes, these buildings were designed to withstand the harsh mountain climate and embodied the heart of the pastoral economy until the XXᵉ century.

With the industrialization of milk production and new health standards, their traditional use declined, leading to the abandonment of many burons in the 1960s.

cantalien anecdotes Napoleon's horse

It’s an indisputable fact, supported by history, and one that no historian can dispute: Napoleon had a horse named “Cantal”. He rode this horse at the famous battle of Moskowa (or Borodino) during the Russian campaign in 1812.

This truité gray horse was named “Cantal” because of its origins, coming from the north of the department, more precisely from the Mauriac area. It undoubtedly belonged to the Auvergne breed, renowned for its robustness.

Anecdotally, after the battle, Napoleon ordered his groom to stable “Cantal” for a rest and to bring him a horse in better shape. However, an hour later, the groom had no choice but to return with “Cantal”, who, against all odds, was already back on his feet, much faster than the other horses.

©Horse Gris De Theodore Gericault|© RMN /Philipp Bernard

The pilgrims' song

A thousand years ago, Aurillac was a major stopover for pilgrims on their way to Rome and Santiago de Compostela.

This importance was due to the Benedictine abbey founded by Géraud d’Aurillac, which served as a place of recollection for pilgrims, and to its vast network of priories, offering invaluable relays along the routes for travellers.

The fame of this stopover is confirmed by the Grande Chanson des pèlerins de Saint-Jacques, very popular in the Middle Ages. The first verse reads:

We are pilgrims from the town
called Aurillac near the Jordanne river
We have left our loved ones
Our wives and families
To set off in great numbers
to Santiago de Compostela.

The founder of the city of Baton Rouge is Cantalien

Do you know Arsène Lacarrière-Latour (1778-1837)?

The son of an Aurillac magistrate, this man is actually better known abroad than in France. After studying architecture in Paris, he moved first to Saint-Domingue, then to the United States, where he designed major public buildings in New Orleans. In 1810, he became the founding urban planner of the city of Baton Rouge, which later became the capital of Louisiana.

After working in Texas and Havana (Cuba), he returned to his family in the Cantal region, ending his life in Saint-Mamet-la-Salvetat.

Two Presidents of the Republic born in Cantal

It’s a rare occurrence: two Cantaliens have held the presidency of the Republic, and both died before the end of their term. The first, Paul Doumer, was born in Aurillac in 1857. From a modest background, he became a mathematics teacher before turning to journalism.

He began his political career far from Cantal, being elected deputy for Aisne, then Yonne, in the late 1880s. After holding several ministerial posts, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of the Republic in 1905. His second bid, in 1931, was successful. Unfortunately, he only remained in office for a year, being assassinated by a Russian activist, Paul Gogulov, whose motives remain unclear.

Closer to home, Georges Pompidou was President of France from 1969 to 1973. Born in Montboudif, in the arrondissement of Saint-Flour, he lived little in the Cantal, his father being a teacher in Albi, in the Tarn. However, in the last years of his life, he moved to a charming house on the heights of Cajarc, in the Lot département, a few dozen kilometers from his native Cantal.

And no, Aurillac is not the coldest town!

Aurillac has a stubborn reputation for being the coldest town in France. It’s a persistent cliché, fuelled by television weather charts in which Aurillac’s temperatures always seem cooler than anywhere else.

This reputation is due to the position of the local weather station, situated at an altitude of 630 meters, where it is subject to the currents from Le Lioran. However, Météo France data tell a different story. Aurillac actually enjoys more days of sunshine than cities like Bordeaux or Toulouse.

And when it comes to cold, Aurillac doesn’t even feature in the Top 20 of the country’s coldest cities. All the more reason to put this well-established myth into perspective!