Lamothe is a picturesque village, 4 km from Brioude. Its narrow streets, its winegrowers' houses with estres, its remodeled medieval castle give it a peaceful atmosphere conducive to discovery.
The high mound which juts out like a promontory is certainly the "primitive motte" which gives its name to the locality. A wooden castle located on the old mound was replaced by a stone castle built behind it, a construction which does not appear to be prior to the 12th century. Craftsmen and merchants came to settle around the castle. There were all the trades and the vines were cultivated. The houses formed an important borough which had the title of city and was even in the 17th century aggregated with the 13 good cities of Lower Auvergne. The city was surrounded by ramparts hemmed in by ditches fed by several streams. Lamothe continued to grow to the detriment of Vialle. In 1346, the castle became the property of Guillaume Roger de Beaufort, brother of Clement VI pope in Avignon from 1342 to 1353 and father of Gregory XI pope from 1370 to 1376. During the Revolution, the castle was sold as national property in four lots. The Gallo-Roman "villae" of Vialle and Cougeac date back to the beginning of our era. Cougeac had a river port from which wood, wine and cereals were transported to Nantes during the periods when the Allier was navigable (3 months in spring and autumn). The commune of Cougeac was attached to that of Lamothe in 1842. The village of Vialle was for a long time the religious center of the commune, Lamothe had no church, for lack of care the church of Vialle collapsed. In 1902, the construction of the present neo-Gothic church was completed, on the old motte.