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The commune has been known as Saint Maigner since the middle of 13th century.
Typical of small towns in the Combrailles, Saint Maigner is a harbour of peace and tranquility.
The recently restored church has been altered on several occasions: the oldest part with its "bell-tower with comb" must date from 11th century, and it was probably in the 13th century that it was extended.

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Opened in 1978, in part of the old monastery of Menat, the museum displays vegetable and animal fossils, 56 million years old, discovered in the area of Menat, managed since 1997 by the Rhinopolis association. An exhibition shows the evolution of the Man over almost four billion years, from the first cell to today.

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Built in the 12th century, on part of a 6th century Benedictine abbey, the church has preserved several buildings. The Gothic cloister, dating from the 15th century, serves today as the framework of the museum of Paleontology. Restored in the 16th century by the abbot Geoffroy de Montmorin, the choir and the transept have remarkable Limousin capitals.

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Access by foot from Saint-Priest-des-Champs. Before it meets the Chalamont, the Auzelle river forms a splendid waterfall, that can be reached by following, from St-Priest, the path marked out in yellow. This will take approximately 20 minutes. Detailed information about the waterfall can be found on a notice at the beginning of the route.

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Located in the Combrailles, in the hollow of a natural basin, Châteauneuf-les-Bains is renowned for its thermal springs, which cured the explorer Jean-Pierre Alibert (1820-1905).

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In the 19th century, Jean-Pierre Alibert had built on Pic Alibert a ravishing bronze statue of the Virgin, called the Vierge de l'Ésperance. A staircase leads to the summit from where extends a panoramic view of the Sioule valley.

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The powerful Sioule river intertwines the green and granite prominence of the Saint-Cyr military school, dominated by the bronze Virgin of the Peak Alibert. Another witness of its past, the interesting vestiges of the Romance vault of Saint-Cyr military school are accessible by a small path. The peninsula offers an astonishing view of the Sioule valley.

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Considered as one of the highest railway viaducts in Europe, this stone and steel viaduct, designed by engineer Felix Virard and built by Gustave Eiffel, at the beginning of the 20th century, is 133 metres high and 440 metres long. Two granite pillars, 92 metres high and 144 metres apart, support its 470 metre steel deck. Its reserve, fed by the Sioule, Sioulet and Chalamont, extends over 400 hectares. Roach, perch and pike swim in its water, which has a maximum depth of 60 metres.

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From Ancizes-Comps folow the D19 towards Pontaumur, the D62 towards St-Gervais or the D61 towards St-Jacques-d'Ambur.
The large lake of the Fades-Besserve is equipped with many tourist and sporting installations. For bathers, there are supervised beaches at the pont de Bouchet, at Confolent and at la Chazotte. For water sport enthusiasts there are power boats at the pont de Bouchet, and it's a great place for fishing. Thanks to its width and to the vast forests that border it, the reserve has kept a wild character.
The rivers Sioule and Sioulet join at the pont de Bouchet, within an impressive framework.

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At an altitude of 350 metres in the foothills of the Central Massif, the thermal spa of Néris-les-Bains is at the crossroads of four historical areas: Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Berry and Limousin. It benefits from a soft and moderate climate in a natural, pleasant and preserved environment.

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Located at the heart of the Combrailles, and at a height of 200 metres, the Paradise Belvedere, or view-point, makes it possible to admire the meander and its superb green banks. The Sioule has fashioned the granite table, creating a natural loop of six kilometers, which imprisons the luxuriante peninsula of Murat. A 116m long dam, built in 1901, keeps its level.

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High on its rocky outcrop, the fortress, built in 1250 by Guillaume I of Chouvigny on a Gallo-Roman castrum, dominates the Sioule and its gorges. The exceptional - and rare in the area - medieval military architecture of the castle was unchanged at the time of the rebuilding undertaken by the Duke of Morny, half-brother of the emperor Napoleon III, in 1853. Inside, the chimney struck with the arms of its former owners, the armours and the furniture of the vaulted armory and room of Honour, formerly used as a court of law, point out the prestigious past of the monument.

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Rising close to Mont-Dore, the lively Sioule, an tributary of the Allier, has cut into the granite walls of the Combrailles plateau thus creating splendid, and at the same time wild and captivating gorges. Populated by Eagle Owls and falcons, the gorges of Chouvigny is paradise for canoeists and climbers. A staircase carved into the rock leads to the Roc Armand which offers surprising views on granite and panelled slopes, on mountain streams and passages of abundant vegetation.

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The sanctuary was built in the 12th and 13th centuries in the low part of the city. The "berrichons" - or passages - connecting the nave to the transept betray the Berry influences of the monument sublimated by majestic pillars. Pietà and the impressive statue of Sainte-Madeleine carved at the end of the 15th century by Michel Colomb belong to curiosities of the church not to be missed, as do the baptismal tank and the stone cross of the high altar, dating from the 16th century.

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The waters of the Rochegude filled, approximately forty thousand years ago, a volcanic crater, located at the North of the chain of Puys, thus forming a 70 metres deep lake. At 630 m of altitude, it extends over 32 hectares. Its 50 metre banks are graced with an abundant vegetation, except in North and the North-East, where pozzolanas (brown or grey volcanic rocks) are piled high.

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On the D13, between St-Avit and Giot, l'étang de Tyx is a splendid lake with a complex shape, having multiple inlets, islands and promontaries, which make it an ideal refuge for an abundant fauna in search of peace.
The calm which reigns around the lake allows observation of many bird species which benefit from the large surface area of water and from the quality of the site.

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Opened in 2002, on the initiative of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the European Volcano Park, bordered by the chain of Puys reveals, in a beautiful space of 57 hectares, all the mysteries of the volcanos. Designed by architects Philippe Tixier and Hans Hollein, it makes it possible to discover the inner workings of a volcano and to see Tamentit, a meteorite, in an impressive gilded cone. A space, decorated with beautiful Roman ruins, is dedicated to the eruption of Pompéi and another with the famous scientists Maurice and Katia Kraft, who died in 1991, whilst observing the Unzen volcano, in Japan. The innovating scenography created by Rainer Verbizh, reproduces the violent rumbling emitted on the awakening of the volcano and the phenomena which follow. The exuberant volcanic garden, the films and the seismic simulator enrich this "Voyage to the Centre of the Earth".

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Created in 1992, in the heart of the volcano park, the museum reconsiders, via a film, the birth and the past of the chain of Puys. A showroom is devoted to the volcanos of the world and, in the open air, the 30 000 year old volcano of Lemptégy. Emptied of its materials, at the time of the rebuilding of Rouen, in 1945, the fabulous Strombolian cone offers its interior to visitors who will discover, while following the "path of discovery": volcanic chimneys, faults, ashes and volcanic bombs. An holiday spectacle, mixing sound, light and pyrotechnic displays, simulate a captivating volcanic eruption.

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Founded by St Calmin in the 7th century, the sanctuary was replaced, following the transfer of the remains of St Austremoine in the 11th century, by a building according to the norms of the day. It was rebuilt in the 15th century before being dismantled during the Revolution. The monument owes its celebrity to the seizing of the historic capitals, representating traditional topics of the region : twisted monkey, griffons, dragons and biblical themes. The admirable treasury holds the shrine of St Calmin, dating from the end from the 12th century, and the mausoleum of St Austremoine, first bishop of Auvergne, created in the 17th century.

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Implanted in a rocky peak, the oval shaped medieval country house was the property of the counts of Auvergne and of the brother of Louis IX, Alphonse of Poitiers, before being dismantled by Philippe Auguste in 1213 and subsequently rebuilt by Hugues de la Roche in the 14th century. Classified as a historical monument, it preserved its powerful 12th century square keep, its thirty-two metres high round keep girdled by a triangular wall, its kitchens and its "round loaves" tower. From its covered way, the view extends over the Limagne, and the massifs of Livradois and Forez.

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Further along the D13, between Giat and Flayat, with a surface area of 80 hectares, l'étang de la Ramade is the ideal site for carp fishing. Its calm water contains a particularly rich fauna.
The presence of muskrat, a small rodent originating North America, which builds its lodges on the water, makes this an original site in many ways.

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The castle was built at the beginning of the 17th century, by the marquis d' Effiat, superintendent of Finances of Louis XIII and governor of Puy-de-Dome, when he inherited the fortune of the marshal Antoine Cuffier-Ruzé, his rich godfather. A monumental gate, in Volvic stone, opens on the building with sumptuous furniture from the times of Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Louis XV. It contains stained glasses, relating the life of Cinq-Mars, instigator of a plot against Richelieu, souvenirs of the Royal Military School, created here in 1776, and a pier glass of Forges de Vulcan, carried out by Le Nain. The gardens, laid out by Andre Mollet, godfather of Le Nôtre, surround the singular artificial cave, consecrated to the nymphs.