| Puy de Dôme | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Aerial view from the west with Clermont-Ferrand in the background | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,465 m (4,806 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 485 m (1,591 ft) |
| Isolation | 18.41 km (11.44 mi) |
| Coordinates | 45°46′19″N02°57′45″E / 45.77194°N 2.96250°E /45.77194; 2.96250 |
| Geography | |
  Puy de Dôme France | |
| Location | Puy-de-Dôme,Auvergne,France |
| Parent range | Chaîne des Puys region ofMassif Central |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Lava dome |
| Last eruption | c. 10,700 years ago[2] |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Unknown |
| Easiest route | road |
Puy de Dôme (US:/ˌpwiːdəˈdoʊm/,[3]French:[pɥidədom]ⓘ)[4] is alava dome and one of the youngestvolcanoes in theChaîne des Puys region ofMassif Central in centralFrance. This chain of volcanoes including numerouscinder cones,lava domes andmaars is far from the edge of anytectonic plate.[5]
Puy de Dôme was created by aPeléan eruption, some 10,700 years ago. It is approximately 10 km (6 miles) fromClermont-Ferrand. ThePuy-de-Dômedépartement is named after the volcano.
In pre-ChristianEurope, Puy de Dôme was an assembly place for spiritual ceremonies.[6] Temples were built at the summit, including aGallo-Romantemple of Mercury, the ruins of which were discovered in 1872.[7]
In 1648,Florin Périer [fr], at the urging of his brother-in-lawBlaise Pascal, confirmedEvangelista Torricelli's theory thatbarometric observations were caused by the weight of air by measuring the height of a column ofmercury at three elevations on Puy de Dôme.[8][9]
In 1875, a physics laboratory was built at the summit. Since 1956, a TDF (Télédiffusion de France) antenna is also located there.[10]
AUNESCO World Heritage site since 2018,[11] the Puy de Dôme is one of the most visited sites in theAuvergne region, attracting nearly 500,000 visitors a year. The summit offers expansive views of theChaîne des Puys andClermont-Ferrand. It is a well-known centre forparagliding.
The summit can be reached by twopedestrian paths. The southern one,Le sentier des muletiers ("The Mule Drivers' Trail"), was formerly aRoman road. The northern one,Le sentier des chèvres ("The Goat Trail"), runs past theNid de la Poule (Hen's Nest} crater. TheGR 4 long-distance trail includes both paths to cross the mountain.
Since May 2012, visitors can also go up the mountain by train with thePanoramique des Dômes, arack railway.[12]
A road exists along the railway but it is closed to general traffic, except for the military, service vehicles or emergencies.
At the top of the mountain, restaurants and shops are available as well as avisitor centre giving information on the history and geology of the area.
In respect of its key role in the development ofvolcanology as a geoscience discipline, the Puy-de-Dôme and Petite-Puy-de-Dôme volcanoes were included by theInternational Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 "geological heritage sites" around the world in a listing published in October 2022.[13]
In more recent times, Puy de Dôme has served as an occasional stage finish in theTour de France. It was here that in1964Raymond Poulidor battled withJacques Anquetil in one of the race's most famous moments, racing side by side up almost the entire climb; and that in1975Eddy Merckx was punched in the kidney by a spectator.[14]
Between the1988 and2023 Tour de France summit finishes, only the first part of the ascent to theCol de Ceyssat was covered in the 13th stage of the2020 Tour de France. The 2012 construction of thePuy de Dôme rack railway narrowed the already very narrow road to the top. Because of the increasing logistical demands of the Tour, many thought that the Tour would never return after 1988[15] but the 9th stage of the2023 Tour de France had a summit finish, which was won byMichael Woods. However, spectators were not permitted on the climb.[16]
The road is open to cyclists only during very limited periods when other vehicles are prohibited. In 2006 this was 7–9am on Wednesdays and Sundays between 1 May and 30 September.[17] In 2017, it was the first checkpoint in theTranscontinental Race, a nonstop, unsupported bicycle race across Europe.[18]
TheCircuit de Charade was amotorsportstreet circuit built in 1957 using pre-existing roads around the base of the Puy de Dôme.[19] The venue hosted theFrench Grand Prix as well as theFrench motorcycle Grand Prix several times in the 1960s and early 1970s.[19] In 1986, the track was shortened due to safety issues and was converted into a dedicated motorsportrace track hostingtrack days, driving schools as well ashistoric motorsport events.[19][20]
While the lower areas of the mountain are firmlyoceanic (Köppen:Cfb), Puy de Dôme has ahumid continental (Köppen:Dfb) with borderlinesubalpine characteristics, thanks to its high elevation. Its classification is determined from its January average being well below the −3 °C (27 °F) threshold (with −5 °C (23 °F) as its usual lows), and from having over four months of average temperatures that exceed 10 °C (50 °F). (The requirement for this climate category is to have at least three such months.)
| Climate data for Puy de Dôme (1981–2010 normals; extremes 1973–2017) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.0 (57.2) | 12.8 (55.0) | 18.0 (64.4) | 20.8 (69.4) | 22.7 (72.9) | 28.4 (83.1) | 26.8 (80.2) | 28.3 (82.9) | 24.4 (75.9) | 21.3 (70.3) | 17.1 (62.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 28.4 (83.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.5 (31.1) | 0.1 (32.2) | 3.6 (38.5) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.8 (49.6) | 13.6 (56.5) | 16.7 (62.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.8 (55.0) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.1 (41.2) | 0.5 (32.9) | 8.2 (46.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −2.9 (26.8) | −2.6 (27.3) | 0.9 (33.6) | 4.5 (40.1) | 6.9 (44.4) | 10.3 (50.5) | 13.2 (55.8) | 13.5 (56.3) | 10.1 (50.2) | 6.3 (43.3) | 2.7 (36.9) | −2.2 (28.0) | 4.7 (40.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.4 (22.3) | −5.2 (22.6) | −1.8 (28.8) | 1.2 (34.2) | 3.9 (39.0) | 7.0 (44.6) | 9.7 (49.5) | 10.2 (50.4) | 7.5 (45.5) | 3.3 (37.9) | 0.3 (32.5) | −4.8 (23.4) | 2.3 (36.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −16.5 (2.3) | −19.0 (−2.2) | −14.2 (6.4) | −10.0 (14.0) | −9.0 (15.8) | −3.0 (26.6) | 1.0 (33.8) | 2.0 (35.6) | −2.0 (28.4) | −7.0 (19.4) | −12.0 (10.4) | −16.8 (1.8) | −19.0 (−2.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 51.5 (2.03) | 41.3 (1.63) | 29.4 (1.16) | 30.9 (1.22) | 65.0 (2.56) | 75.6 (2.98) | 67.9 (2.67) | 53.8 (2.12) | 62.9 (2.48) | 40.9 (1.61) | 43.2 (1.70) | 53.5 (2.11) | 610.0 (24.02) |
| Average precipitation days | 11.5 | 8.5 | 9.2 | 6.0 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 10.3 | 9.4 | 9.0 | 10.3 | 10.3 | 16.0 | 120.4 |
| Source 1: Météo Climat[21] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Météo Climat[22] | |||||||||||||
The ice-flecked summit of Puy de Dôme (1465m)
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