BRIOUDE

Brioude

Brioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire. At Brioude, the ancient Brivas, its martyrs in the 4th century, Julien and Ferréol, became its patron saints; according to the Chronicle of Moissac, Euric of Toulouse had the basilica built, in the fourteenth year of his reign: it was wondrously decorated with columns. The emperor Avitus had already been buried at the shrine of Julian at Brivas, according to Gregory of Tours. Euric's basilica may have served to venerate both the saint and the Visigothic candidate for Roman Emperor.