Town of moulins in the capital of the ducs of bourbon

Capital of the ducs of bourbon, having more than 1000 years of history, moulins is a city of art and history.

Le jacquemart, in moulins  From the top, where the bronze figures of the Jacquemarts - father, mother, son and daughter - mark the hours for the people of Moulins, the view over the slate and tile roofs enables the visitor to understand the town's development and growth over the centuries.

Discovery notre dame cathedral of moulins  The collegiate church with its flattened chevet, the flying buttresses surmounted by pinnacles, the choir and the ambulatory are built of pink and red sandstone and date from the XVth century (Flamboyant Gothic). The stained glass windows, some of which depict portraits of the last dukes of Bourbon, are XVth and XVIth centuries. The cathedral houses the remarkable late XVth century wooden triptych by the Master of Moulins.

Visitation chapel of moulins  This chapel was built in the XVIIth century and houses the mausoleum of duke Henri II of Montmorency who was beheaded in Toulouse in 1632. The mausoleum was built on the order of his widow by the brothers Anguier.

museum anne de beaujeu,moulins  The castle, which houses nowadays the Museum, is well-known to be the first building of the french Renaissance. Erecting this building in the end of the XVth century Pierre and Anne de Beaujeu turn the mediaval fortress into a pleasure castle. Nowadays it shelters the Art and Archeology Museum.

Moulins faïance  In the studio, established in 1970, Dominique Lapendry produces and decorates work by hand, in accordance with the traditions of high-temperature kiln-fired faience making. Decoration is mostly polychrome, following the old motifs of Moulins faience ware.

musée du pays de souvigny in moulins  From Easter to All Saints the North Barn hosts an exhibition on the recent discovery of the tombs of Saint Mayeul and Saint Odilon, two abbots of Cluny buried in the church at Souvigny. The permanent collection is devoted to the archaeology, buildings and ethnology of the surrounding bocage countryside. The South Barn takes its name from its masterpiece, the Zodiac Column, a pillar carved in the XIIth century and unlike any other in the world. The exhibition also contains facsimiles of the Souvigny Bible, displays of stone and statuary, capitals, coins and other items. The priory gardens are laid out in the French style of formal gardens of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries.

Discovery of réserve naturelle du val d'allie,moulins  The river Allier is an important element in the topography of the Loire valley and has kept its unspoilt character. From Vichy to Moulins, its wide bends changes with water level and erosion of the banks. From 1944 it has been a nature reserve between Saint-Loup and Toulon-sur-Allier, and this wetland area houses a remarkable flora and fauna. Almost 200 species of birds have been counted there, some of them of great importance from a natural heritage point of view, such as the osprey, the little bustard, the kingfisher and others.