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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Genès des Carmes, located on Rue Neuve-des-Carmes in Clermont-Ferrand, is the former chapel of a Carmelite convent founded in the 13th century. The religious settled in 1288, acquiring the Hôtel de Bernard de Riom in 1290 for 80 pounds. After conflicts with the Canons of Saint-Genès, in 1317 they obtained the papal approval of John XXII and Bishop Aubert to build their church, financed in part by Philippe de Valois (40 pounds). The sanctuary, choir and bell tower were completed in 1371, consecrated by Bishop Henri de la Tour.

The church was entirely consecrated in 1472 by Jean de Gombert, bishop of Orange. In the 17th century, it welcomed the religious profession of the first superior of the Ursulines of Auvergne (1615). Destroyed at the Revolution, only his chapel remained, successively ceded to the municipality, to the Protestants, and then transformed into a workshop by a cooper. Repurchased in 1802, it became a place of Catholic worship again under the name of Saint-Genès-des-Carmes church, classified as a historical monument in 1961.

The present building combines elements from the 13th, 14th, 16th and 19th centuries: the sanctuary (1290-1301), the choir and three spans (1329-1389), two additional spans (1430-1470), side chapels (late 15th-early 16th), and a bell tower raised in 1849. Two chapels surrounding the choir date from 1860-1868. The church houses stained glass windows by Émile Thibaut (XIXe), frescoes by Louis Dussour (1942) and a representation by Jean de la Croix (late XVIIe).

His organ, classified since 1980, was built by Joseph Callinet (1844-45), restored in 1982 and 2009. Gisèle Burlurut, a titular organist from 1945 to 1995, recorded works by Boëllmann and Langlais. The building, owned by an association, bears witness to the religious history of Clermont, medieval struggles between orders and post-revolutionary transformations.

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