Murat () is a commune in the

Cantal Cantal (; or ) is a rural Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flou ...

department in the Auvergne

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in south-central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Chastel-sur-Murat was merged into Murat. Murat is the administrative seat of this new commune.

History

On 24 June 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 120 Muratais were deported, 80 never returned. The French people from Murat were deported via

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

to the Neuengamme concentration camp and most of them had to work in the subcamp (in German: Außenlager) Farge concentration camp. At begin of June, 2012 a monument in the Memorial wood on the gardening area of former concentration camp was established: It was donated by the city of Murat, to remember what happened in Murat and to commemorate the deported and murdered inhabitants. The columns of basalt remember July 1944 when the Maquisards from Murat, Cantal were deported and afterwards murdered in the Neuengamme concentration camp and its affiliates. In total 75 men out of 103 died in the concentration camp.

Geography

Location

Murat is situated on the eastern edge of the Mounts of Cantal, in the valley of the Alagnon, a tributary of the

Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

, which was the principal route for crossing the Massif Central. It is surrounded by three basalt outcrops, the vestiges of former volcanoes, the Rocher de Bredons, where there is a priory church dating from the 12th century, the rocher de Bonnevie, where there is an 8-metre high statue of the Virgin Mary known as Notre-Dame de la Haute-Auvergne, and the Rocher de Chastel, where the 12th century chapel of St Antoine stands. A market is held every Friday.

Population

Population data refer to the commune in its geography as of January 2023.

Administration

Mayor (''maire'' in French) of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Personalities

* Olivier Magne * Raymond Leopold Bruckberger,Raymond Leopol Bruckberger Notice biographique de l'Académie des sciences morales et politiques
writer * Henri de Castellane, politician. His grandson was Paul Ernest Boniface de Castellane who married Anna Gould

References

External links

Volcano park of Auvergne on the UNEP-WCMC site

Albepierre-Bredons
{{authority control Communes of Cantal Auvergne Cantal communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia