While Montferrand was founded in the early twelfth century by the Counts of Auvergne on the model of fortified cities in the Southwest, Clairmont is much older, as it existed in ancient times. The earliest mention of the existence of Clairmont contained in the work of Strabo, the early first century. The city was then known Nemossos described as a "metropolis of Arvernes." She later took the name of Augustonemetum then Arverni.