Château des ducs de Bourbon

Photo : Sergey Prokopenko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Castle of the Dukes of Bourbon, located in Moulins in Allier, is a building whose construction began between 1375 and 1410 on the initiative of Louis II of Bourbon. The site underwent significant expansions between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, particularly under the impetus of Peter II of Bourbon and Anne of France, with the construction of a Renaissance pavilion that today houses the Anne-de-Beaujeu Museum. After the incorporation of the duchy into the kingdom of France in 1527, the castle was gradually abandoned, then ravaged by a major fire in 1755. From 1775 onwards, it became a prison for more than two centuries, a function it retained until 1983. Occupied by German troops from 1940 to 1944 during the Second World War, the castle was purchased by the Departmental Council of Allier in 1986 and progressively restored. Since 2013, the site has been accessible to the public again, offering a sensitive reading of its history spanning medieval and Renaissance architecture, as well as prison and wartime memories.

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