Photo : Jean-Pol GRANDMONT / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Usson
In this village, whose origins are said to go back to Celtic times, stands the most important fortress of Basse Auvergne. Louis XI made it a prison by adding three walls.
It is true that Usson enjoys an ideal location: built on a volcanic hill, it overlooks the Varennes plain. Starting from its base, you climb along narrow lanes lined with black stone houses to reach a small Romanesque church, before finally discovering the ruins of the castle destroyed by Richelieu in 1633. Queen Margot was imprisoned there for nineteen years. Going back down the village, you should visit the winegrowers' quarter: its houses hide deep vaulted cellars because, before giving way to livestock farming and varied crops, the vine was for a long time the village's main activity.
