Montluçon

Montluçon is a town and commune in central France. It is the biggest town in the département Allier.

Geography

Montluçon is situated on the Cher River, 50 m. S.W. of Moulins by the Orleans railway.

History

The town, which formed part of the duchy of Bourbon, was taken by the English in 1171, and by Philip Augustus in 1181; the English were beaten under its walls in the 14th century.

Sights

The upper town, on an eminence on the right bank, consists of steep, narrow, winding streets, and preserves several buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries; the lower town, traversed by the Cher, is the seat of the industries.

Of the churches, Notre-Dame is of the isth century, St Pierre partly of the 12th and St Paul modern. The town-hall, with a library, occupies the site of an old Ursuline convent, and two other convents are used as college and hospital. Overlooking the town is the castle rebuilt by Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, and taken by Henry IV during the French Wars of Religion; it serves as a barracks.

Economy

According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:

Industries embrace the manufacture of glass, chemicals, mirrors, sewing-machines, and iron and steel production. The Commentry coal-mines and Neris, a town with thermal springs, are a few miles distant to the south-east.

Miscellaneous

Population in 1906: 31,888.

Montluçon is the seat of a sub-prefect and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of trade arbitration, a chamber of commerce and a lycee.

Montluçon is twinned with Hagen, Germany and Leszno, Poland.

Births

Montluçon was the birthplace of:

André Messager (1853-1929), musician
Marx Dormoy (1888-1941), politician
Bernadette Vergnaud (born 1950), French politician and Member of the European Parliament

External link and reference

Town council website (in French)

Communes of Allier | Sous-préfectures