Lk. it. Ch. IV. AUVERGNE. 491 CHAPTER IV. AUVERGNE. CONTENTS. Church at Issoire — Puy — Fortified Church at Koyat. THE last of the Southern provinces which requires to be distinguished is that of Auvergne, one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most com]:)lete of the round Gothic styles of France. The country in which it is found is as distinctly marked out as the style, for no naturalist can cross the frontier of the territory without at once being struck by the strange character of its scenery. It is a purely volcanic country, to which the recently extinguished craters impart a character not found in any other province of France. Whether its inhabitants are of a different race from their neighbors has not yet been investi- gated. At all events, they retain their original characteristics less changed than any other people inhabiting the South of P'rance. Their style of architecture is distinct, and early reached a degree of perfection which no other in France had then attained; it has, inoreover, a greater re- . semblance than we have hitherto found in France to the Lombard and Rhenish styles of architec- ture. The other styles of Southern France — whatever their beauties may be — certainly never reached that degree of independent completeness which enables us to class that of Auvergne among the perfected styles of Europe. In the department of Puy de Dome there are at least four churches of the typical form of this style, which have been edited by M. Mallay — those of Issoire, of N". D. du Port at Clermont, of Orcival, and of St. Nectaire — which only differ from one another in size, and in the arrangement of their apsidal chapels. That of Issoire has a square central chajjel inserted, which is wanting at Clermont and Orcival, while St. Nectaire has only three instead of four apsidal chapels. The- largest of these is that of Issoire, of which a plan is here given, from which it will be seen that, though small, it is beautifully arranged. 358. Cliuri-li ;it Issuire. (From ;Mallay.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
