RIOM  , a

town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Puy-de-Dome, 8 m . N. by E. of Clermont-Ferrand by rail . Pon., town, 7839; commune, ro,627 . Riom is situated on the left bank of the Ambene, on an eminence rising above the fertile plain of Limagne . It is surrounded with boulevards and has wide streets, but the houses, being built of black lava, have a sombre appearance . Some belong to the 15th and 16th centuries, and have, turrets and carved stonework . The church of St Amable, of Romanesque and early Gothic architecture, dates from the 12th century, but has been restored in modern times . It has fine carved woodwork of the 17th century . The church of Notre-Dame du Marthuret (15th century) has a well-known statue of the Virgin at its western entrance . The Sainte-Chapelle ofthe 14th and 15th centuries is a relic of the palace of Jean de Berry, duke of Auvergne, and contains fine stained glass . Near it stands a statue of the chancellor Michel de 1'H6pital, who was born near Riom . The rest of the site of the palace is occupied by the law courts .

Other interesting buildings are the

belfry of the 16th century and a mansion of the same period known as the Maison des Consuls . The town possesses numerous fountains, some of which are of the Renaissance period . Riom is the seat of a court of appeal, 'a court of assizes and a sub-prefect, and has tribunals' of first instance and commerce and a communal college . It has a state manufactory of tobacco, and carries on the preparation of fruit preserves . Trade is in grain, wine, vegetables, fruit, nut-oil and Volvic stone . ' Riom (Ruomagus or Ricomum of the Romans) was long the rival of Clermont . Along with Auvergne it was seized for the crown by Philip Augustus, and it was the capital of this province under the dukes of Berry and Bourbon .