Riom
Encyclopedia
Riom is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy-de-Dôme.Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005...

 department in Auvergne
Auvergne (région)
Auvergne is one of the 27 administrative regions of France. It comprises the 4 departments of Allier, Puy de Dome, Cantal and Haute Loire.The current administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not...

 in central France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.

History

Until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, Riom was the capital of the province of Auvergne
Auvergne (province)
Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....

, and the seat of the dukes of Auvergne
Rulers of Auvergne
-History:In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine...

. The city was of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

ish origin, the Roman Ricomagus. In the intensely feudalized
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

 Auvergne of the 10th century, the town grew up around the collegiate Church of Saint Amabilis
Amabilis of Riom
Saint Amabilis of Riom was a French saint. Sidonius Apollinaris brought Amabilis to serve at Clermont.He served as a cantor in the church of Saint Mary at Clermont and as a precentor at the cathedral of Clermont and then as a parish priest in Riom...

 (Saint Amable), the local saint, who was the object of pilgrimages. Riom was the capital of the dukes of Auvergne. In the 14th century the city benefitted from the patronage of the Jean, duc de Berry
John, Duke of Berry
John of Valois or John the Magnificent was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was the third son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg; his brothers were King Charles V of France, Duke Louis I of Anjou and Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy...

, who rebuilt the Ducal Palace and the Saint-Chapelle. In 1531, Riom and the Auvergne reverted to the Crown of France.

In 1942, Riom was the site of the Vichy government
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...

's abortive war-guilt trials, called Riom Trial
Riom Trial
The Riom Trial was an attempt by the Vichy France regime, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, to prove that the leaders of the French Third Republic had been responsible for France's defeat by Germany in 1940...

s.

Sights

In 1985 Riom received the French classification of Ville d'Art et d'Histoire recognizing its sixteen classified historical monuments as well as another 57 on the supplementary listings. Several 17th- and 18th-century private houses (hôtels particuliers) are open to the public with collections of costumes and works of decorative art.

Riom's two major public squares are Place Jean-Baptiste Laurent and Place du pré-Madame in which stand two large fountains in homage to Desaix.

Notable people

Riom was the birthplace of:
  • Pierre Victor, baron Malouet
    Pierre Victor, baron Malouet
    Pierre Victor, baron Malouet , a French publicist and politician, was born at Riom .-Life:...

     (1740–1814), publicist and politician
    Politician
    A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

  • Gilbert Romme
    Gilbert Romme
    Gilbert Romme was a French politician and mathematician who developed the French Republican Calendar.-Biography:...

     (1750–1795), politician
  • Joseph Projectus Machebeuf
    Joseph Projectus Machebeuf
    Joseph Projectus Machebeuf was a French Roman Catholic missionary and the first Bishop of Denver.-Biography:...

     (1812–1889), Vicar Apostolic of Colorado and Utah; Bishop of Denver, USA
  • Henri Hébrard de Villeneuve
    Henri Hébrard de Villeneuve
    Henri Hébrard de Villeneuve was a French Olympic fencer. He competed in the individual épée event at the 1900 Summer Olympics.-References:...

     (1848–1925), Olympic fencer
  • Eugene Gilbert
    Eugene Gilbert
    Sous Lieutenant Eugene Gilbert was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. He had also been a famous pioneer Pre-war racing pilot flying to many countries throughout Europe....

     (1889–1918), pioneer aviator, WW1 fighter pilot

Cultural references

Tesuque is mentioned in Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...

's 1927 novel Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a 1927 novel by Willa Cather. It concerns the attempts of a Catholic bishop and a priest to establish a diocese in New Mexico Territory.The novel was included on Time's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005...

, Book Nine Chapter 1.

Twin towns

  • Algemesi
    Algemesí
    Algemesí is a municipality in the comarca of Ribera Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain.The town of Algemesí is one of the major centres for the production of citruses in Spain, and several cooperatives are based there...

    , Spain
  • Nördlingen
    Nördlingen
    Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...

    , Germany
  • Viana do Castelo, Portugal
  • Adur, England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

     (encompassing Shoreham-by-Sea
    Shoreham-by-Sea
    Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...

    , Lancing
    Lancing, West Sussex
    Lancing is a town and civil parish in the Adur district of West Sussex, England, on the western edge of the Adur Valley. It lies on the coastal plain between Sompting to the west, Shoreham-by-Sea to the east and the parish of Coombes to the north...

    , Sompting
    Sompting
    Sompting is a village and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England, located between Lancing and Worthing, at the foot of the southern slope of the South Downs. Twentieth century development has linked it to Lancing. The civil parish covers an area of 10.35 square kilometres and has...

    , and Southwick
    Southwick, West Sussex
    Southwick is a small town and civil parish in the Adur District of West Sussex, England located three miles west of Brighton and a suburb of the East Sussex resort City of Brighton & Hove...

    )
  • Żywiec
    Zywiec
    Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....

    , Poland

External links

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