Olloix

Village d'Olloix

Olloix is a small French village of 300 inhabitants located in the heart of France, in Auvergne, close to the city of Clermont-Ferrand where Blaise Pascal was born.

Olloix is a district of the Regional Park of the Auvergne Volcanoes. It is a transition village between the mountains and the Limagne plain. Built on the edge of the fracture which dominates the subsidence plain of the Limagne, it stretches out along a sloping street in a small valley where a Roman road used to run. It is located at the foot of three Puys or Volcanoes, the puy d’Olloix, d’Ozenne and de Marquerole. The department of the Puy-de-Dôme has listed Olloix as an outstanding village.

Coming from Clermont, Olloix is reached by a very picturesque and winding road called the ravines road. At the exit to the ravines, you arrive in Olloix by the square of the Croix de Pierre. The main part of the village is built alongside the departmental road D74. As most of the new constructions are located outside the historical part, Olloix has kept all its charm and is most appealing to visitors.

The countryside around Olloix has retained all its wildness and the rocky area in its lower part is a delight for children.

Arriving in Olloix by the ravines road

Most visitors arrive in Olloix by the departmental road D119, called the ravines road.

The ravins road (D119)

Entrance to Olloix

The church and the commandery

In the twelfth century, a commandery of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem settled down in Olloix. All that remains today are sections of the towers and walls. The chapel of the commandery has now become the chancel of the church of Olloix. From that time, the church has kept the recumbent figure of Saint Gouérand, commander of Olloix, and a piéta supposedly brought back from the East by the Knights in the sixteenth century.

A view of the church from the old cemetery	Remains of the commandery of Olloix
Chancel of the church of Olloix	Side chapel of the church of Olloix
The piéta of Olloix	The recumbent figure of Saint Gouerand

The Monne gorge

In the north of the village of Olloix, the small torrential river has carved very picturesque and wild gorges into the granite rocks.

The old bridge of Riberolle in the Monne gorges

The Monne in the gorges

Wild nature

In the nearby areas of the village of Olloix, nature has kept its wildness which is most enjoyed by ramblers.

Rocks in the lower part of Olloix on a stormy day	A view of the massif of Sancy from Olloix
A view of the Puy de Dôme from the summit of the puy d'Olloix	A view of the Limagne plaine from Olloix

The "Maison de la Monne", the "Grange aux Ayres" and the Camping site

The "Maison de la Monne" (Monne House) offers comfortable bedrooms and typical Auvergnat menus to visitors and.ramblers.
Bed and breakfast accommodation and holiday cottages can be found at the Grange aux Ayres.
There is also a camping site, the Pré de Barre, open to ramblers.

The "maison de la Monne" : Monne House	The camping site of Olloix
The Grange aux Ayres bed and Breakfast	The Grange aux Ayres garden

In the surrounding of Olloix

9 kilometers from Olloix, a masterpiece of Roman art: the Roman church of Saint-Nectaire
to the right, a view of the feudal castle of Murol

An ideal place for swimming, boating and angling : the Aydat Lake, 12 kilometers from Olloix