The Romanesque Church of Persia, built between the late eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth. The Church of Persia was parish church of Espalion to construction in the sixteenth century, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church (currently Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions and the Diving Bell) in the center of the fortified town. The Church of Persia was situated on one of the roads leading to Compostela from Le Puy-en-Velay to Conques. The portal, with its monumental archivolt and tympanum is with that of Conques: one of only two examples of large sculptural decoration that keeps the Rouergue from the Romanesque period. The actual eardrum illustrates the theme of Pentecost the Virgin Mary receives the Holy Spirit in the dove dune shape and tongues of fire are heading to the apostles ten in number. In the monolith inteau mingle confusedly the themes of weighing of souls and the Last Judgement: in the center, below the two scales of the balance which the plague has disappeared, the deceased is lying down on his bed, his soul is represented a naked body that compete angels and demons. On the right, in a mandorla, Christ is surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists: the eagle for John, the bull for Luke, the lion and the man Marc Mathieu. At left, a damned rushed into the jaws of Leviathan at the entrance to hell where Satan throne.

Other sculptural elements stand out: the Adoration of the Magi Kings in the upper left of the portal, a beautiful Madonna and Child inspired by the Auvergne school, right above the back door. There are a crown of forty corbels under the eaves. To appreciate the elegance of the polygonal sanctuary, we must observe, below, from the banks of the creek.

Inside, the triumphal arch decorated with carved capitals opens with a chorus ended with an apse covered five sections of a vault in a cul-de-four.

The Old Palace (Vieux Palais) was built in the Renaissance style in 1572 by the Governor of Espalion; its twin towers were for defensive purposes. Successively a Town Hall, then Courthouse (hence its name); at that time the basement was the old prison. It was classified an historic monument in 1912, and converted into an artist's residence in 1992. From the terrace there is an exceptional view of the River Lot, the old Bridge, the Grave quarter and the bronze diver - a tribute to Rouquayrol and Denayrouze, of Espalion, inventors of the first autonomous diving machine.

In 1860 Benoit Rouquayrol patented a breathing apparatus which was in fact an early form of ‘demand-valve’ regulator similar in principle to the ones used for modern scuba diving today. Initially Rouquayrol devised his ‘regulator’ for use in smoke filled rooms and underground mines where smoke or poisonous gases made it impossible to breathe. However in 1864, after collaboration with a French navy lieutenant, ‘Auguste Denayrouze’, the apparatus was adapted for use underwater. The ‘demand valve’ principle is still used in all modern scuba diving regulators today.