Château de Bourbon-l'Archambault

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Bourbon-l'Archambault is a former fortified castle, remodelled several times from the 12th to the 15th century, whose remains stand in the commune of Bourbon-l'Archambault, in the Allier. An earlier building, destroyed by Pepin the Short, was replaced as early as the 9th century; a major reconstruction took place in the 11th–12th centuries, followed by an extensive restructuring undertaken in 1288 by Robert of Clermont, sixth son of Saint Louis, after his marriage to the heiress of the Bourbonnais, which he made the cradle of the House of Bourbon. The ensemble includes a Romanesque chapel and a 13th-century Gothic chapel, as well as a Sainte-Chapelle built at the end of the 15th century by Duke John II of Bourbon to house relics deposited there from 1287. During the Revolution, the Sainte-Chapelle was damaged and most of the towers were demolished, with the exception of three northern towers and the tower known as "Qui qu'en Grogne". The lordship, later duchy, of Bourbon gave its name to the province of the Bourbonnais, which corresponds roughly to the present-day department of Allier and the south-east of the department of Cher. The château was classified as a historic monument on the list of 1862; the Qui qu'en Grogne tower was classified as a historic monument on 14 June 1961. Now managed by the Fondation Saint-Louis with the support of the commune, the site can be visited in three parts: the château and its three towers, the Qui qu'en Grogne tower (14th–15th century) and the canon's house (16th century).