Montluçon (; oc, Montleçon ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on the river

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

. It is the largest commune in the

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

department, although the department's

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as ''Montluçonnais''. The town is in the traditional province of

Bourbonnais Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins. History The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...

and was part of the mediaeval

duchy of Bourbon Duke of Bourbon (french: Duc de Bourbon) is a title in the peerage of France. It was created in the first half of the 14th century for the eldest son of Robert of France, Count of Clermont and Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of the lordship of B ...

Geography

Montluçon is located in the northwest of the Allier department near the frontier of the

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

and

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

regions. Montluçon is linked with surrounding regions and towns via four main road axes, plus the highway A71 from

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

; through a railway linking in the North Vierzon then Paris (3-5h). Formerly the

canal de Berry The Canal de Berry is a disused canal in France which links the Canal latéral à la Loire at Marseilles-lès-Aubigny with the Cher at Noyers rejoining the Loire near Tours. With a branch from Montluçon it provided of canal with locks wide f ...

linked Montluçon towards the north. Montluçon is south of

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

, from Paris, from

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

, (3h) from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, (2h) from

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

and from the Atlantic coast. Montluçon is close to the ''

Méridienne verte The ''Méridienne verte'' (Green Meridian) is a project devised by the architect Paul Chemetov for the 2000 celebration in France. It involved marking on the ground the Paris Meridian crossing France from North to South (from Dunkerque in Nord-P ...

'' (an architectural project marking the Paris meridian) and to the Greenwich meridian. Montluçon is also close to the geographic centre of

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

History

Early history

Montluçon was built in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The first mention of a place called ''Monte Lucii'' (Mont de

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

) dates from the eleventh century. Guillaume, son of Archambaud IV of Bourbon, built the castle in a defensible position on a small rocky hill on a bend in the river

. The town, which formed part of the

, was taken by the English in 1171, and by Philip Augustus in 1181; the English were finally driven out in the 14th century. In the 14th century, Louis II de Bourbon re-built the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and walls. Montluçon and other Bourbon lands reverted to the French crown in 1529, and Henry IV further improved the defenses. Montluçon became the administrative seat of the area in 1791, then entered the industrial era thanks to the presence of coalpits distant in

Commentry Commentry (; Auvergnat: ''Comentriac'') is a commune in the department of Allier in central France. It lies southwest of Moulins in the valley of the Œil. It is within 8 km of one of the geographic centres of France. The film actress ...

, the

Canal de Berry The Canal de Berry is a disused canal in France which links the Canal latéral à la Loire at Marseilles-lès-Aubigny with the Cher at Noyers rejoining the Loire near Tours. With a branch from Montluçon it provided of canal with locks wide f ...

in 1830 and the railway in 1864. These transport links allowed the import of ore and export of coal, wood and manufactured goods. The population grew from 5000 inhabitants in 1830 to 50 000 in 1950.

World War II

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Germans occupied the Dunlop tyre plant (even though Montluçon was in the free zone) to exploit the research laboratory to synthesize rubber, since natural rubber could not be imported by Germany. The manufacturing of tyres for

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

aircraft was also of interest for the Germans. For this reason, the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

bombed the site on 12–16 September 1943, as well as part of the nearby town Saint-Victor, causing 36 deaths and injuring more than 250 civilians. A notable act of resistance occurred in the city on 6 January 1943 when a mob of citizens overran guards supervising a massive deportation of men to Germany in accordance with the ''Service de Travail Obligatoire'' (Obligatory Work Service) plan that sent able Frenchmen to fill vacancies in German factories during the war. All the men who were to be deported managed to escape into the countryside, evading the forced industrial service awaiting them in the Reich.

Post-World War II

Since 1945, traditional industry (blast furnaces and glassware) has declined. Today Montluçon has chemical industries, tyre manufacture ( Dunlop), and electronics ( Sagem), and more recently a technopole at La Loue was established for high-tech companies. New Zealand-born SOE agent

Nancy Wake Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, (30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011), also known as Madame Fiocca and Nancy Fiocca, was a nurse and journalist who joined the French Resistance and later the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II, and b ...

, the most decorated woman of World War II, led her small army of resistance fighters in the countryside around Montluçon. Wake died on 7 August 2011 aged 98, and on 11 March 2013, her ashes were scattered in a small wood outside Montluçon. The ceremony was followed by a civic reception in the town.

Population

Transportation

Air

There is a small airport from Montluçon ( Montluçon - Guéret Airport) with flights mainly for Paris, and a smaller aerodrome in Montluçon itself ( Montluçon - Domérat Aerodrome). The nearest international airports are

Clermont-Ferrand Airport Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (french: Aéroport de Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne) is an airport serving the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. It is located east of the city, in Aulnat, both '' communes'' of the Puy-de-Dôme department in the Au ...

and Limoges Airport.

Road

Montluçon is linked to French and European road networks, by three major routes: * the highway A71 from

. * the national route to Clermont-Ferrand (E11) and to Bourges/Vierzon * the E62/RN145 joining Limoges to Moulins

Rail

The Gare de Montluçon-Ville railway station is served by three main passenger rail lines. * 'Montluçon -

Vierzon Vierzon () is a commune in the Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north. It is situated some northwe ...

- Paris' (fastest travel time to Paris: 3h08) * 'Montluçon -

Gannat Gannat (; Auvergnat: ''Gatnat'') is a commune in the Allier department in central France. Gannat was a sub-prefecture until 1926, with a population of around 5,800 inhabitants. There is a castle (the Château de Gannat), two churches of whic ...

Clermont Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attract ...

' * 'Montluçon -

Guéret Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland a ...

- Saint-Sulpice-Laurière -

' (on the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

line)

City buses

Montluçon's local buses are run by Maelis.

Sights

The upper town, on the right bank of the

, 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 industrial zone. The church of Notre-Dame dates from the fourteenth century, the church of St Pierre partly from the 12th. The town hall, with a library, occupies the site of an old Ursuline convent, and two other convents are used as a college and hospital. Overlooking the town is the castle rebuilt by

Louis II, Duke of Bourbon Louis de Bourbon, called the Good (4 February 1337 – 10 August 1410), son of Peter de Bourbon and Isabella de Valois (the sister of French King Philip VI), was the third Duke of Bourbon. Louis inherited the duchy after his father Duke P ...

, and taken by Henry IV during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

; it serves as a barracks.

Monuments

* The Dukes of the Bourbon castle in Montluçon, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries * Church of Notre-Dame, XVe * Church of Saint-Pierre, XIIe * Church of Saint-Paul, XIXe * Church of Sainte-Thérèse, XXe * Church of Saint-Martin, XXe * Church of Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc, built in 1966 * Temple de l'Église Réformée de France, (1888) * Tour des forges (or 'tour fondue'), XIIe siècle * Crown, XIIe * Maison des Douze apôtres du XIIe * Museum of popular musiques *

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, XIXe * Ancienne chapelle Saint-Louis * Passage du doyenné * Castle la Louvière * Castle de Bien-Assis *

: locks, canal bridge

Culture

* Musée des Musiques Populaires * Théâtre Municipal

Gabrielle Robinne Gabrielle Anna Charlotte Robinne (1 July 1886 – 18 December 1980) was a French stage and film actress whose career spanned over sixty years. Career Born in Montluçon, Allier, France, Robinne was a pupil of Maurice de Féraudy at the Pa ...

International relations

Montluçon is twinned with: * Antsirabe, Madagascar * Guimarães, Portugal *

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

, Germany *

Igualada Igualada () is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of th ...

, Spain *

Leszno Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...

, Poland

Miscellaneous

Administration: Montluçon is a sub-prefecture and has courts, a board of trade arbitration, a chamber of commerce and several schools (general public, private, commercial). Sport: * ÉDS Montluçon

Personalities

Montluçon was the birthplace of: * Achille Allier (1807-1836), archaeologist and writer *

Françoise Bonnet Françoise Bonnet (born 8 April 1957 in Montluçon, Allier) is a retired female long-distance runner from France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of ...

(born 1957), a long-distance runner and Olympic athlete * Guy Chauvet (1933–2007), a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Jules Cluzel Jules Cluzel (born 12 October 1988 in Montluçon, Allier) is a French motorcycle racer. In 2019 he competes in the Supersport World Championship riding a Yamaha YZF-R6. He scored his first ever Grand Prix victory at Silverstone in Moto2 in 2010. ...

(born 1988), a motorcycle Grand Prix road racer * Marx Dormoy (1888–1941), a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

* Michael Fitzpatrick (born 1970),

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musician, lead singer of

Fitz and the Tantrums Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick (lead vocals), Noelle Scaggs (co-lead vocals and percussion), James King (saxophone, ...

Jehan Jehan is a male given name. It is the old orthography of Jean in Old French, and is rarely given anymore. It is also a variant of the Persian name Jahan in some South Asian languages. People with the given name Jehan * Jehan Adam (15th century) ...

(born 1957), a songwriter *

Jean-Daniel Lafond Jean-Daniel Lafond (born 18 August 1944) is a French-born Canadian filmmaker, teacher of philosophy, and the husband to the former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, making him the Viceregal Consort of Canada during her service. Biography Lafon ...

, spouse of Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean. *

Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin (6 November 1886 in Montluçon (Allier) – 23 February 1946, Montluçon (Allier)) was a French diplomat and colonial official of the French Third Republic, who served as governor of French India between 1938 and 1946. ...

(1886-1946) Governor General of

French India French India, formally the ( en, French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian Subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de ...

between 1938 and 1946 *

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

(1853–1929), a composer * (born 1977), a mixed martial arts fighter *

(1886-1980), a stage and film actress *

Florian Vachon Florian Vachon (born 2 January 1985) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2020, for the , and / teams. Major results ;2005 : 2nd Championat d'Auvergne ;2006 : 2nd Circuit des 2 ponts Montl ...

(born 1985), a professional road bicycle racer *

Jean Val Jean ''Jean Val Jean'' is a 1935 novel by Solomon Cleaver. It is a much abbreviated retelling in English of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. According to the publisher's preface, around the turn of the 20th century, Cleaver, a young min ...

(born 1980), an adult film actor * Bernadette Vergnaud (born 1950), a

French politician The politics of France take place with the framework of a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic". ...

and

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

Roger Walkowiak Roger Walkowiak (; 2 March 1927 – 6 February 2017) was a French road bicycle racer who won the 1956 Tour de France. He was a professional rider from 1950 until 1960. He died on 6 February 2017 at the age of 89. The 1956 Tour de France From 19 ...

(1927-2017), a cyclist, winner of the 1956 Tour de France