Arvernis

About

Arvernis (or Arvernum, Urbs Arverna, by the name of the Arvernes that inhabited the area) is the name that the Auvergne town of Clermont bore from the third to the ninth century. Its merger with the neighbouring and rival city of Montferrand, imposed by Louis XIII and then Louis XV, gave birth to Clermont-Ferrand. The city of Arvernis emerged from the retreat on the hillside of Clermont from the Gallo-Roman city of Augustametum, in the third century C.E., following a first phase of incursions by Germanic peoples. Arvernis is a transitional city between Augustonemetum, a city with Roman urban planning, and Clermont, a medieval city that is the result of the evolution of the ecclesial city of Arvernis.