In pre-Christian Europe, Puy de Dôme was an assembly place for spiritual ceremonies.[6] Temples were built at the summit, including a Gallo-Romantemple of Mercury, the ruins of which were discovered in 1872.[7]
In 1875, a physics laboratory was built at the summit. Since 1956, a TDF (Télédiffusion de France) antenna is also located there. On the top of the mountain, there is a transmitter for FM radio and TV.
The summit can be reached by two pedestrian paths. The southern one, "Le sentier des muletiers" ("The Mule Trail"), was formerly a Roman road. The northern one, "Le sentier des chèvres" ("The Goat Trail"), runs past the Nid de la Poule (Hen's Nest} crater. The GR 4 long-distance trail includes both paths to cross the mountain.
A road exists along the railway but it is closed to general traffic, except for the military, service vehicles or emergencies.
At the top of the mountain, restaurants and shops are available as well as a visitor centre giving information on the history and geology of the area.
Geological heritage site
In respect of its key role in the development of volcanology as a geoscience discipline, the Puy-de-Dôme and Petite-Puy-de-Dôme volcanoes were included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 "geological heritage sites" around the world in a listing published in October 2022.[10]
Sport
Cycling
In more recent times, Puy de Dôme has served as an occasional stage finish in the Tour de France. It was here that in 1964Raymond Poulidor battled with Jacques Anquetil in one of the race's most famous moments, racing side by side up almost the entire climb; and that in 1975Eddy Merckx was punched in the kidney by a spectator.[11]
Between the 1988 and 2023 Tour de France summit finishes, only the first part of the ascent to the Col de Ceyssat was covered in the 13th stage of the 2020 Tour de France. The 2012 construction of the Puy de Dôme rack railway narrowed the already very narrow road to the top. Because of the increasing logistical demands of the Tour, many thought that the Tour would never return after 1988[12] but the 9th stage of the 2023 Tour de France had a summit finish, which was won by Michael Woods. However, spectators were not permitted on the climb.[13]
Tourist centre
The road is open to cyclists only during very limited periods when other vehicles are prohibited. In 2006 this was 7–9am on Wednesdays and Sundays between 1 May and 30 September.[14] In 2017, it was the first checkpoint in the Transcontinental Race, a nonstop, unsupported bicycle race across Europe.[15]
While the lower areas of the mountain are firmly oceanic (Köppen: Cfb), Puy de Dôme has a humid continental (Köppen: Dfb) with borderline subalpine characteristics, thanks to its high elevation. Its classification is determined from its January average being well below the −3 °C (27 °F) threshold (with −5 °C (23 °F) as its usual lows), and from having over four months of average temperatures that exceed 10 °C (50 °F). (The requirement for this climate category is to have at least three such months.)
Climate data for Puy de Dôme (1981–2010 normals; extremes 1973–2017)
^Paillet, Jean-Louis; Tardy, Dominique (2012). "Le sanctuaire de Mercure au sommet du puy de Dôme : le cadre architectural d'un circuit processionnel". In de Cazanove, Olivier; Méniel, Patrice (eds.). Étudier les lieux de culte de Gaule romaine. Archéologie et histoire romaine (in French). Vol. 24. Montagnac: Monique Mergoil. pp. 197–207. ISBN978-2-35518-029-3.
