Volcano symbol ... child of the earth
This child of earth overlooking Clermont-Ferrand was alternately revered by the Romans, prized by Pascal for his experiments on gravity or theater or other exploits. It remains the most iconic peaks Auvergne ... and most come!
Destiny of a volcano
In the beginning there was the imposing mass of a volcano born of a land erupting and, on his round head , the multiple variations of the moving air. Then came the men, probably from the Neolithic, which made this summit a sacred place. They built there in the first century, a large temple to the glory of the god Mercury. In the seventeenth century, Pascal, ensuing experiments on gravity which gave rise dense mercury barometer. They still find their news in the meteorological observatory built over the ruins. Witness of these scientific advances, he relies Mercury in the long antenna of the television transmitter tapped into the crisp air and changing? Has he seen the feat of renal aviator landed on this volcanic eminence? Does observed Today soaring gliders? Is he still that each year draws towards the summit of the hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over Europe?
Mysterious Ancient
The summit of the Puy de Dome is the ruins of a great temple àMercure whose influence went far beyond the boundaries of the Arverne. Discovered in 1872 during construction of the Observatory, it was erected during the first two centuries of our era on the very site of a Gallic sanctuary older. His plan is the traditional Gallic temple with cella and ambulatory opening to the east.
According to Pliny the Elder, a fabulous statue of the god Mercury, about 18 meters high, was executed by the Greek sculptor Zenodorus around 60 BC. No trace has been found and we know nothing of the fall of the sanctuary to third, fourth or later centuries. It was abandoned with the advent of Christianity or destroyed by the barbarian invasions? The objects found around the ruins, past the fifth century, provide no specific information. No trace of presence on the site is found during the next seven centuries, no mention in the documents the time of any sacred place.
In the thirteenth century, we find the existence of a Romanesque chapel inhabited by a hermit monk. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a few travelers' accounts allude to the existing ruins on top of the Puy de Dome. In 1872, construction of the first permanent observatory mountains of France led to the release of the remains until 1878. Construction in 1956, a radio relay, will destroy all the Gallo-Roman and medieval located on the summit of the Puy.
Child of the Earth
Contrary to legend, the Romans probably never suspected the volcanic nature of the site where they built the temple of Mercury. It took until the middle of the eighteenth century that invented the genesis of volcanic "mountains of Auvergne." But until the end of the nineteenth century, the formation of the Puy de Dome remained a mystery to geologists: they could not identify any of the types then known eruptive (Hawaiian, Strombolian and Vulcanian). It is the eruption of Mount Pelee, from 1902 to 1905, which for the first time, offers a model applicable to the "giant Puys.
This double dome of trachyte born here 11,000 years ago, on a site where 30,000 years ago had built several cinder cones (including "Little Puy de Dome). The temporary interruption of its growth, by the collapse of its eastern half, explains the duality of his form. This activity was not accompanied by explosive phenomena as moderate, while the explosion of its discrete neighbor, "Kilian crater" (near the neck Ceyssat), 8,500 years ago, devastating the forest over 25 km2.
Dome rises to 1465 meters but is on a granite plateau at 1000 meters. Like all the volcanoes in the chain of Puys, Puy de Dôme the result of a single eruption. Asleep for 11,000 years, it will not wake up. Certainly, a new volcano may arise at any time, at that specific location or nearby. It is likely, fortunately, it will prevent!
Volcano science and communication
Blaise Pascal was a child lived in Clermont by the familiar presence of the Puy de Dome. In 1648, he naturally chose the summit as a theater and as a symbolic indicator his famous experiment on the weight of the air. He showed that the level in the column of dumercure barometer fell gradually with altitude. For this, he measured the difference between the device left in Clermont and the one installed at the top of the Puy de Dome. Two centuries later, in 1875, a physics lab was built on top of the Puy de Dome. His mission was to study the atmosphere and above the clouds. The work will also extend to volcanology, seismology and geomagnetism. The laboratory became, in 1925, "the Institute and the Observatoire de Physique du Globe du Puy de Dome.
The Puy de Dome can boast of having served in the advanced testing techniques. The achievements made have marked turning points, particularly in the areas of mechanical and aerospace.
Volcano feat
The Gordon Bennett Cup (international racing speed cars) in 1905, and especially the landing of the aircraft Eugene Renard in 1911 winning the Grand Prix Michelin, among sporting events of the early twentieth century.
The Tour de France cycling honors sometimes the Puy de Dome in its path. Among the big winners of the stage, there were in 1952 Coppi, Bahamontès in 1959, Anquetil in 1964, Gimondi in 1967, Ocana in 1971 and 1973, Zoetemelk in 1976, Arroyo in 1983, Mechler in 1986 and in 1988 Weltz .
With pilots, the feat becomes extreme. We are witnessing the first flight in 1973 from the top of the Puy de Dome. Wings multicoloresfont now part of the landscape of the Puys. Will there be yet imagine the nature of new challenges to the giant domes in the next millennium?
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