Place Saint-Pierre

Place Saint-Pierre was once occupied by the Romanesque Church of Saint-Pierre, demolished during the French Revolution, and by a cemetery. It was in this church that Blaise Pascal was baptised in 1623. The only surviving element of the church, a lintel depicting Jesus washing Saint Peter’s feet, was reused on(…)

Place Saint-Pierre was once occupied by the Romanesque Church of Saint-Pierre, demolished during the French Revolution, and by a cemetery. It was in this church that Blaise Pascal was baptised in 1623. The only surviving element of the church, a lintel depicting Jesus washing Saint Peter’s feet, was reused on the façade of a building at the corner of Place des Gras and Rue des Gras.

A fruit market is recorded on Place Saint-Pierre as early as 1666. Several covered market halls subsequently occupied the site, culminating in the present-day hall, built in 1985.

Located on the site of the city walls and the former Porte Saint-Pierre, the building now housing the Salle Gilbert-Gaillard was constructed in 1775 to accommodate the city weigh house, where goods were officially weighed. In 1894, the municipal council decided to change its use : the ground floor was converted into a large shop, while an assembly hall was created on the first floor.

The works were entrusted to the architect Jean-Joseph Teillard, who added an extra storey to the building, with five round-arched bays on the façade. He also topped it with a slate mansard roof, lit by dormer windows with stone pediments made from Volvic stone, as well as bull’s-eye windows, small circular windows made of zinc.

The hall is named after Gilbert Gaillard, a confectionery manufacturer and prominent figure in local political life, who was Mayor of Clermont-Ferrand from 1880 to 1884. Today, the hall is a multidisciplinary exhibition venue, hosting solo projects by artists from the local area, collective projects linked to the city’s cultural policy, and exhibitions organised by cultural organisations from Clermont.