Moulins (; oc, Molins) 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, capital of 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 Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. It is located on the river

. Among its many tourist attractions are the

Maison Mantin The Maison Mantin (; ''"Mantin House"'') is a late 19th-century French mansion located in the town of Moulins (''Arrondissement de Moulins'') in the Allier department of central France. The mansion, shuttered for more than a century, opened it ...

, the Anne de Beaujeu Museum and The National Center of Costume and Scenography.

Geography

Moulins is located on the banks of the river Allier.

History

Before the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, Moulins was the capital of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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 the seat of the

Dukes 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 ...

. It appears in documented records at least as far back as the year 990. In 1232, Archambaud VIII, Sire de Bourbon granted a franchise to the village's inhabitants. The town achieved greater prominence in 1327, when Charles IV elevated Louis I de Clermont to Duke of Bourbon. Either Louis or the later

Peter II, Duke of Bourbon Peter II, Duke of Bourbon (1 December 1438 – 10 October 1503 in Moulins), was the son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, and Agnes of Burgundy, and a member of the House of Bourbon. He and his wife Anne of France ruled as regents during the mino ...

and of Auvergne moved the capital of the province from

Bourbon-l'Archambault Bourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon. Population Personalities In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bour ...

to Moulins. :''Note: This article in French suggests Pierre II moved the capital, while th
local tourism website
(also in French) suggests it was Louis I.'' In February 1566 it became eponymous to the Edict of Moulins, an important royal ordinance dealing with many aspects of the administration of justice and feudal and

ecclesiastical privilege In the canon law of the Catholic Church, ecclesiastical privileges are the privileges enjoyed by the clergy. Their scope varied over time.

, including limitations on the

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

s held by French princes, abrogation of the levy of rights of

tallage Tallage or talliage (from the French ''tailler, i.e. '' a part cut out of the whole) may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a land use or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the ...

claimed by seigneurs over their dependants, and provisions for a system of concessions on rivers. This was the birthplace of the great 19th-century operatic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

and art collector

Jean-Baptiste Faure Jean-Baptiste Faure () (15 January 1830 – 9 November 1914) was a French operatic baritone and art collector who also composed several classical songs. Singing career Faure was born in Moulins. A choirboy in his youth, he entered the Pari ...

. In the 20th century,

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

went to school in Moulins as an orphan, before moving to Paris, where she became a fashion designer and major innovator in women's clothing.

Politics and administration

Territorial division

Moulins in the

préfecture In France, a prefecture (french: préfecture) may be: * the ''chef-lieu de département'', the commune in which the administration of a department is located; * the ''chef-lieu de région'', the commune in which the administration of a region is l ...

, even though it is not the most populated commune of the department.

Elections to municipal and intercommunal councils

Mayors of Moulins

The position of mayor has existed in Moulins since 1518.

Other elections

International relations

Moulins is twinned with: *

Bad Vilbel Bad Vilbel () is a spa town in Hesse (Hessen), Germany, famous for its many mineral water Spring (hydrology), springs. Bad Vilbel is the largest town in the Wetteraukreis district and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt R ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

since 26 October 1990 *

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Population

Transport

Moulins-sur-Allier station, in the centre of the town, has direct trains to Paris (

Gare de Bercy Gare de Paris Bercy, officially Gare de Paris Bercy Bourgogne - Pays d'Auvergne, is one of the seven mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It handles about 4.3 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF, m ...

), which take about 2 hours 25 minutes. Montbeugny Airport is a small airport located near Moulins.

Museums

* Centre National du Costume de Scene (museum)

Notable people

Antoine Gilbert Griffet de Labaume Antoine Gilbert Griffet de Labaume (21 November 1756, Moulins – 18 March 1805) was an 18th-century French writer, playwright and translator. He died in Paris aged 48. Biography A writer gifted of the most extensive knowledge and with a talen ...

(1756–1805), translator and man of letters *

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, ...

(1823–1891), poet and playwright * Jean Pastelot (1820–1870), painter and caricaturist *

, fashion designer, started as a cabaret singer *

Philippe N'Dioro Philippe N'Dioro (born 24 June 1962) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He made 94 appearances and scored 13 goals in Ligue 1 for Olympique Lyonnais and OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), ...

, footballer *

Jean-Luc Perrot Jean-Luc Perrot (born 23 May 1959 in Moulins, Allier, in Central France) is a French organist, carillonneur, composer and musicologist. Biography Jean-Luc Perrot is agrégé of musicology, Doctor of literature and arts (musicology), lecture ...

(born 1959), pipe organ player and composer *

Stéphane Risacher Stéphane Risacher (born 26 August 1972 in Moulins, Allier) is a basketball player from France, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known ...

, basketball player for the French national team *

, opera singer * Claude Louis Hector de Villars (1653–1734), Marshal General of France * Gilbert Mercier (1957), author of "The Orwellian Empire" and journalist * Louis Jacques Brunet (1811), ancient professor of natural history *

James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, 1st Duke of Liria and Jérica, 1st Duke of Fitz-James (21 August 1670 – 12 June 1734) was an Anglo-French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England by Arabella Churchill, sister o ...

(1670–1734) *

Rahel Shtainshnaider Rachel Steinschneider ( he, רחל שטיינשניידר; born 10 February 1994), also known as Rahel Shtainshnaider, is an Israeli Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Israeli club Hapoel K ...

,footballer