Saint-Rustique Church

The present-day Église Saint-Rustique is a 19th century church built on the foundations of a much older building. It is decorated with mural paintings.

The current church was built in 1838 on the bases of a former church, whose presence could be traced back to the 5th century, since Saint Rusticus, priest of Aulnat, who became the eighth bishop of Clermont, was buried there in 446. An 18th century shrine containing the remains of Saint Rusticus is displayed on the altar of the south aisle.

In the 19th century, the inhabitants of Aulnat called upon Aymon Mallay (1805-1883), departmental architect for the Puy-de-Dôme region, to proceed with the reconstruction of the building which was in disrepair and had become too small. He had previously worked on several other religious buildings in the Auvergne region, including the cathedral and Notre-Dame-du-Port in Clermont-Ferrand. The Roman choir was preserved with its two capitals, and to preserve harmony, Mallay proposed a neo-Roman project (1837) with buttresses, semi-circular arch openings and a barrel-vaulted nave. The octagonal bell tower was built in around 1840 and its steeple was redone in 1900.

In 1889 the choir was decorated with a mural painted by the artist Maurizio Belli, representing the Trinity. The Chapel of the Virgin was adorned with a mural by the painter Louis Dussour (1905-1986), former Director of the École des Beaux-Arts in Nice. It represented the litanies of the Virgin Mary, her prayers. The stained-glass windows are the work of the master-glassmaker Raphaël Lardeur (1890-1967).

The city features other neo-Roman religious buildings such as Église Saint-Étienne de Lempdes.