La Tour-d'Auvergne (, before 1961: ''Latour'', oc, La Tor d'Auvèrnhe) 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 in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

.INSEE commune file
/ref>

Geography

The commune of La Tour-d'Auvergne is located on the west slope of the

Massif du Sancy In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's Crust (geology), crust that is demarcated by geologic fault, faults or Lithospheric flexure, flexures. In the Plate tectonics, movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal s ...

, at the southwestern extremity of the Puy-de-Dôme departement. It is 60 km (37 miles) away from

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

and is crossed by the départementale 203 linking the A89 motorway and the départementale 2089 to

Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise (; oc, Bèssa), also known as Besse-en-Chandesse (its official name from April 2, 1961 to July 1, 1973), or Besse (its name before 1961), is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central F ...

and

Issoire Issoire (; Auvergnat: ''Issoire'', ''Ussoire'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Geography Issoire is located on the river Couze, near its confluence with the Allier, SSE of Clermont-Ferrand on the ...

. La Tour-d'Auvergne was the

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the canton until 2015, and was composed of eight

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

(La Tour-d'Auvergne, Bagnols, Puy-de-Dôme, Cros, Puy-de-Dôme, Trémouille-Saint-Loup, Chastreix, Saint-Donat, Picherande and Saint-Genès-Champespe). On the Artense plateau, which extends itself in between

Cantal Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (fren ...

and the Tarentaine river south, the dam retention of

Bort-les-Orgues Bort-les-Orgues (; oc, Bòrt) is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France. Geography Bort-les-Orgues is situated on the Dordogne. The river Rhue forms part of the commune's southeastern border, then flows into the Dordogne. ...

, the

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ...

and the Avèse gorges west,

La Bourboule La Bourboule (; Auvergnat: ''La Borbola'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 communes of t ...

and Mont-Dore glacier valley north and the massif du Sancy east, La Tour-d'Auvergne is an ancient village which holds its foundations on a basaltic piton, an old vestige of a volcanic flow of the massif du Sancy when it was a volcano, more than 250 000 years ago. Standing on a natural promontory, the village is located in between the Burande valleys and its tributary, the Burandou.