Menat () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is in the heart of the valley of

Sioule The Sioule (; oc, Siula) is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the river Allier. Its source is near the village of Orcival, north of Mont-Dore, in the Massif Central. The Sioule has cut a deep gorge, especially in its upper cou ...

. Its neighboring municipalities are

Saint-Éloy-les-Mines Saint-Éloy-les-Mines (; Auvergnat dialect, Auvergnat: ''Sant Alòi de las Minas'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Puy-de-Dôme Departments of France, department in Auvergne (region), Auvergne in central France. Geography The river Boubl ...

, Youx,

Moureuille Moureuille (; oc, Morelh) is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Geography The river Bouble forms part of the commune's north-western border. See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following ...

Servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

, Pouzol,

Neuf-Église Neuf-Église () is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department of France. Intercommunal ...

Ayat-sur-Sioule Ayat-sur-Sioule is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. French Revolutionary General Louis Desaix was born in Ayat-sur-Sioule in 1768 and is considered to be one of the best Generals of the Revol ...

, and

Saint-Rémy-de-Blot Saint-Rémy-de-Blot (; Auvergnat: ''Sent Remesi de Blòt'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It ...

Locations

The

Menat Abbey Menat Abbey (french: Abbaye de Menat) is an abbey located in the village of Menat, Puy-de-Dôme, in the heart of the Sioule valley. It is one of the oldest monastic foundations in Auvergne. History Ruined, it was rebuilt and reformed at the en ...

( fr) is an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in the village of Menat. It is one of the oldest

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

foundations in Auvergne. The Pont de Menat ( fr) is a medieval bridge connecting Menat to adjacent Saint-Rémy-de-Blot.

Gastronomy

The

pâté aux pommes de terre The ''pâté aux pommes de terre'', , ( Occitan: pastís de treflas) or ''pâté de pommes de terre'' is a speciality of the Limousin and the Allier (Bourbonnais) regions in Central France. It can be served either as a side dish or as the mai ...

and, the "pain des Combrailles" are specialties of the region.

Fossils

Menat is the site of a

lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

dating to 56 million years ago. Many fossils have been discovered extracted from the shales. A dedicated museum was inaugurated in 1980 and housed in the former abbey castle (now town hall).

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

bird fossils have been discovered in Menat, including

Halcyornithidae Halcyornithidae or Pseudasturidae is a family of fossil birds, possibly belonging to the order Psittaciformes (parrots and relatives). Members of this family lived in the Eocene, around 55-48 million years ago. Fossil remains are known from the ...

Messelasturidae Messelasturidae is an extinct family of birds known from the Eocene of North America and Europe. Their morphology is a mosiac that in some aspects are strongly convergent with modern hawks and falcons, but in others are more similar to parrots. ...

, and relatives of Songziidae.

References

Communes of Puy-de-Dôme {{PuyDôme-geo-stub