Salers, Where Lava Stone Meets the Volcanic Pastures of the Cantal

A dark borgo among the green pastures

In the heart of the Cantal, where the ancient Auvergne volcanoes have left a landscape of grassy plateaus and deep valleys, Salers appears like a severe and magnetic vision. Its houses and towers are built from dark basalt — the volcanic stone that emerges everywhere here — creating a dramatic contrast with the brilliant green of the surrounding pastures. At nearly a thousand metres above sea level, the borgo has the air of an impregnable fortress, and indeed it was one for centuries.

Salers is one of those places where architecture, landscape and gastronomy form an inseparable whole. The cheese bears its name, the cattle breed does too, and the mountains that surround it were shaped by the same fire that produced the stone of its walls.

The Grande Place and the towers

The heart of the village is the Grande Place, a harmoniously proportioned square surrounded by Renaissance houses with corner towers, pointed turrets and mullioned windows. The Maison de la Ronade, the Maison des Templiers and the Hôtel de la Fangeouse speak of the wealth of the notables who in the sixteenth century made Salers a small capital of the Cantal.

The Église Saint-Mathieu

The parish church preserves a polychrome fifteenth-century Mise au Tombeau (Entombment), a sculptural group of great emotional intensity. The Romanesque porch and the churchyard that surrounds the church offer a meditative walk with views over the mountains.

The Esplanade de Barrouze

From the esplanade that opens on the north side of the village, the panorama is breathtaking: the valley de la Maronne unfolds in an expanse of meadows dotted with buron (stone mountain-pasture huts) with the Puy Mary in the background. It is one of the most beautiful viewpoints in the Auvergne, and it costs nothing.

The mountains of the Cantal

Salers is the ideal starting point for exploring the mountains of the Cantal, the largest volcano in Europe (if one considers the entire eroded edifice). The Puy Mary (1,787 m) is accessible by car as far as the Pas de Peyrol (1,589 m), from where a brief walk on foot leads to the panoramic summit. The glacial valleys that radiate from the peak — the vallée de la Jordanne, the vallée du Falgoux — offer hikes among buron and waterfalls.

The buron and the cheesemaking tradition

The buron are the stone huts where shepherds spent the summer producing mountain-pasture cheese. Some have been restored and converted into high-altitude refuges or restaurants where you can taste truffade and Salers cheese directly on the site of production.

What to eat in Salers

• Salers AOP: a pressed-curd cheese made exclusively from the raw milk of Salers cows at pasture, aged for at least three months. The flavour is intense and earthy, with notes of hazelnut
• Truffade: crushed potatoes mixed with fresh Cantal tome, cooked in butter until a golden crust forms. The emblematic dish of the Auvergne
• Pounti: a sweet-savoury terrine with chard, prunes and pork, baked in the oven
• Gentiane: a bitter yellow liqueur made from the root of gentian, hand-harvested on the high plateaus
• Salers beef: the Salers cattle breed produces a well-marbled, flavourful red meat, often served grilled with aligot

How to get there

Salers can only be reached by car. The nearest cities with a railway station are Aurillac (42 km, line to Paris-Austerlitz) and Mauriac (20 km). Aurillac airport has flights to Paris-Orly. The mountain roads are spectacular but require care in winter.

When to go

From May to October, with a peak of beauty in June (plateau wildflowers) and September (golden light, transhumance). Summer is cool and pleasant thanks to the altitude. The Salers cheese fair in August is an unmissable event. Winter is harsh and many establishments close.