{{commune-Franciae
|nomenlatinum=Brivas
|nomenvernaculare=Brioude, Briude
|imago=Brioude pont.JPEG
|descriptioimaginis=Pons fluminis Elaveris
|regio=Arvernia
|praefectura=Liger Superior
|arrotundimentum=Brivas
|pagus=Brivas 1 et 2
|incolae=6 820
|census=1999
|longitude=3.385
|latitude=45.295
|longitudo=3° 23′ 06″ Or.
|latitudo=45° 17′ 42″ Sept.
|minalt=414
|maxalt=622
|cursuale=43100
}}
thumb|left|Ecclesia Brivatis
'''Brivas'''<ref>"Brivas, Brivata, Brivatum, Brivatum in Arvernia, Brivatensis vicus": </ref> (Ligeris Superioris in Podio Vellavorum 40 milia passuum.

== Personnages célèbres ==
* Iulianus Brivatensis, martyr et sanctus, hic interfectus (ut creditur) anno 304
* Ludovicus Mandrin, latro
* Petrus Iosephus Amatus Pissis, geologus, explorator (1812-1889)
* Iacobus Simon, diurnarius

== Notae ==
<div class="references-small"><references /></div>

== Nexus externi ==
* [http://www.brioude.fr Situs officialis] 
* [http://www.brioude.com Situs peregrinatorum] 
* [http://brioude43.free.fr De Brivate antiqua]
* [http://www.gr-infos.com/grp-allier.htm Semita fontium].

{{French commune
|nomcommune=Brioude
|région=Auvergne
|département=Haute-Loire<br />(''sous-préfecture'')
|arrondissement=Brioude
|canton=chief town of 2 cantons
|insee=43040
|cp=43100
|maire= Jean-Jacques Faucher
|mandat=2001-2008
|intercomm= Communauté de communes du Brivadois
|longitude=3.385
|latitude=45.295
|alt mini=414&nbsp;m
|alt maxi=622&nbsp;m
|image=240px
|caption=Bridge over the Allier
|hectares=1,352
|km²=13.52
|sans=6,820
|date-sans=1999
|dens=504
|date-dens=1999}}
'''Brioude''' (commune of the Auvergne ''région'' of département''. It stands on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire.

== History ==
At Brioude, the ancient ''Brivas'', its martyrs in the 4th century, Julien and Ferréol, became its patron saints; according to the Euric of Toulouse had the basilica built, in the fourteenth year of his reign (c. 480); it was wondrously decorated with columns;<ref>"''Apud Tolosam regnavit Eoricus super Gothicus post Theodoricum. Anno 14 regni sui basilicam sancti Juliani Brivate columnis ornatam mirifice construxit.''" (''MGH'' SS 1;284, quoted by Werner Jacobsen, "Saints' Tombs in Frankish Church Architecture" ''Speculum'' '''72'''.4 (October 1997):1107-1143) p. 1110, note 19.</ref> the emperor Avitus (acclaimed at Toulouse, died 456) had already been buried at the shrine of Julien at ''Brivas'' (Brioude), according to Gregory of Tours;<ref>''Historia Francorum'' 2.11.</ref> Euric's basilica may have served to venerate both the saint and the Visigothic candidate for Roman Emperor.

Brioude was taken by the Odilo, later the reforming abbot of Cluny began his vocation at St Jullien of Brioude, where fifty-four canons, all of noble birth, held the rank of bishop: Odilo's biographer reports that he fled. For some time after 1361 the town was the headquarters of Bérenger, lord of Castelnau, who was at the head of one of the bands of military adventurers which then devastated France. The knights (or canons, as they afterwards became) of St Julian bore the title of counts of Brioude, and for a long time opposed themselves to the civic liberties of the inhabitants.

The ''Almanach de Brioude'' published annually from 1919 has included many articles of local and broader interest.

==Main sights==
*Basilica of ''St. Julien'', the largest Christian church in Auvergne. Built in the 11th-14th centuries, it has notable polychrome frescoes.
*''Hôtel de la Dentelle ''.
*''Maison du Saumon et de la Rivière'', now an aquarium-museum.

== Famous ''Brivadois'' of birth ==
* Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe died in Brioude in 1688.
* AS Montferrandaise and till 2004 with the French U-21 team for the U-21 World Championships in Scotland.
* Emmanuel Mouret, director, filmwriter and actor

==Twinnings==
* Cardigan, United Kingdom, since 1972
* Laufen, Germany, since 1982
* Suzzara, Italy, since 1995
* Gonzaga, Italy, since 1995
* Moreira da Maia, Portugal, since 2007