I.
Before Florus
Prehistory
Megaliths found all over the Planèze are witnesses of human’s presence on the territory since prehistoric times.
Nearby Saint-Flour, discoveries made throughout the diggings of the Mons plateau’s tumuli vouch for a continuous occupation since 2200 A.D.
(NB : we know for sure that Cantal’s settlement began between 12 and 15000 years ago and that agricultural sedentarization occurred around 5000 A.D.)
Antiquity
The archaeological campaigns carried out on the site of the railway station in the 19th century and on the location of the Bel-Air district in the 20th century showed the existence of a Gallo-Roman vicus, a small agglomeration, in the 1st and 2nd centuries of our era.
Florus, the founder
In 2018, carbon-14 tests made it possible to date the relics of Florus at the beginning of the fourth century. It is thus very likely that they are authentic bones of the saint and that the legend according to which Florus would have come to evangelize the populations at this period are partly founded. Between the Florian period and the end of the first millennium, elements are missing on what is happening in the country.
At most do we know that a pilgrimage linked to the relics is attested at the end of the 10th century.
French