Montluçon

Montluçon is a commune in central France on the Cher river. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department’s prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais. The town is in the traditional province of Bourbonnais and was part of the mediaeval duchy of Bourbon.

Government
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Allier
Canton	Montluçon-1, 2, 3 and 4
Mayor (2020–2026)	Frédéric Laporte
Area¹	20.67 km² (7.98 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)	35,653
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Geography

Montluçon is located in the northwest of the Allier department near the frontier of the Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions.

Montluçon is 106 kilometres (66 miles) south of Bourges, 340 km (211 miles) from Paris, 95 km (59 mi) from Clermont-Ferrand, 280 km (174 mi) (3h) from Lyon, 150 km (93 mi) (2h) from Limoges and 400 km (249 mi) from the Atlantic coast.

Montluçon is close to the Méridienne verte (an architectural project marking the Paris meridian) and to the Greenwich meridian.

Montluçon is also close to the geographic centre of Metropolitan France.

Transportation

Air

There is a small airport 30 km (19 mi) 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 and Limoges Airport.

Rail

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

‘Montluçon – Bourges – Vierzon – Paris’ (fastest travel time to Paris: 3h08)
‘Montluçon – Gannat – Clermont Ferrand’
‘Montluçon – Guéret – Saint-Sulpice-Laurière – Limoges’ (on the Lyon-Bordeaux line)

City buses

Montluçon’s local buses are run by Maelis.

Education

Schools

The city administers 15 nursery schools and 14 municipal elementary schools which take the name of an illustrious character ( Honoré-de Balzac , Aristide-Briand , Maurice Carême , etc.) and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region four high schools .

The Madame-de-Staël, is located near the city center and offers training in the three general streams, professional streams, European sections in English, German and Spanish as well as preparatory classes for the grandes écoles in literary and economics. The Paul-Constans , is located to the west of the city and offers scientific and technological courses, vocational courses, BTS, preparatory classes, vocational licenses and the GRETA Bourbonnais Combraille.

There are also private establishments, including the Sainte-Philomène, Notre-Dame and Saint-Paul nursery and elementary schools, the Saint-Joseph college and the Saint-Vincent and Saint-Joseph high schools, the latter two having merged in 2013 into one. the only general and vocational high school Sainte-Louise ⁹³ , belonging to the Institution Sainte-Louise-de-Marillac which brings together this high school, the Sainte-Philomène school and the Saint-Joseph college.

University life

IUT depending on Clermont Auvergne University.
IFAG (Business and Management Training Institute).
ACI Montluçon (post-baccalaureate school in 3 years): Bachelor in Marketing and International Affairs.
CPGE HEC and literature of Montluçon, Lycée Madame-de-Staël.
Scientific CPGE PTSI / PT of Montluçon, Paul-Constans high school.

Health

Montluçon has two retirement homes, a reception home, a residence, a hostel and a care unit . It also has a hospital center which brings together the specialties of general medicine, surgery, psychiatry and even obstetric gynecology. The Saint-François polyclinic, which is located in the neighboring town of Désertines , groups together the specialties of surgery and medical imaging.

Economy

In the xix ^th century, the city benefits from the exploitation of coal Commentry and the opening of the Canal de Berry . The Montluçonnaise industry developed in the arms and metallurgy sectors until the First World War. With the exhaustion of these coal mines, the city had to reconvert its traditional industries ( blast furnaces , glassworks) by bringing the ore through the Berry Canal . Then Montluçon developed its industry in chemicals , pneumatics (establishment of the Dunlop plant ) and electronics ( Sagemmainly). More recently, Montluçon has developed an advanced technology center at the Loue technopole .

Montluçon is the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montluçon-Gannat Portes d’Auvergne which manages the aerodrome of Montluçon Guéret located in Lépaud .

Local Culture and Heritage

Places and monuments

Religious heritage

Montluçon has a religious heritage, some of which are classified as historical monuments. Listed monuments The Notre-Dame de Montluçon church.

The church Our Lady of Montlucon, the xv ^th century, was listed as a historical monument in 1987. Most of the building dates from the xv ^th century and xvi ^th century even if some parts are older as the north apse dating from the end of the xii ^th century and more recent as the gateway to the western facade.

The Church of St. Peter of Montlucon, in the xii ^th century, was listed as a historical monument in 1978. The current tower dates from the xviii ^th century and the support pillars in the transept were strengthened xiii ^th century.

Saint Paul Church of Montlucon, the xix ^th century, was listed as a historical monument in 1987. It was built by the architect Louis-Auguste Boileau in the new district near the Saint-Jacques factories. It was mainly built with the new methods of the time and in particular with the metal .

The old chapel of Saint Louis, the xiii ^th century; primitive church of the canons of the chapter of Saint-Nicolas, dated 1260 was registered in the inventory of historical monuments in 1926 ^{M 4} .Unclassified monuments

Civil heritage

The Castle of the Dukes of Bourbon, which has been owned by the town since 1913 , is the emblem of the city. This castle was restored during the interwar period. It currently houses the reserves of the popular music museum .

The Castle of Bien-Assis is a feudal mansion xv ^th century was included in the inventory of historical monuments in 1926. This castle has preserved doors with panels and fittings of the time.

A civil building in the modern city is listed in the inventory of historical monuments as much for its historical interest as for its architectural value: the Communal House , in front of the Saint-Paul church by the architect Gilbert Talbourdeau , in the Ville-Gozet district, urbanized during the rapid industrial development of the city.

Environmental heritage

Montluçon has many green spaces:

Ilets park;
Saint-Jean park;
esplanade of avenue Marx-Dormoy ;
Breda gardens;
Esplanade des Marais;
Louvière park ;
Wilson garden.

Cultural heritage

The main venues in Montlucon

The municipal theater.

Municipal Theater, Gabrielle Robinne .
Athanor Center in Montluçon .
The Guingois .
National drama center of Montluçon – Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region Théâtre des Ilets
The Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture de Montluçon located in Fontbouillant.

Museums

The Villa de la Louvière a crazy pastiche of xviii ^th century bequeathed to the city and became a museum and its garden instead of high reliefs show. The villa and the park were registered as a historical monument on February 7, 1994.
The MUPOP : museum of popular music.

Other nearby entertainment venues

Néris-les-Bains : André Messager theater in Néris-les-Bains .
Commentry : Alphonse Thivrier theater .
Maillet : Footsbarn Theater troupe .

Sports

Sports equipment

Montluçon is equipped with 3 sports complexes, 1 aqualudic center, 7 gymnasiums and 6 stadiums:

The Bien-Assis sports complex is made up of a multi-sports hall and two football fields ;
The Guineberts sports complex is composed of a multisports hall, fencing hall, martial arts hall, gymnastics hall and a football field;
The sports complex of Nerdre is composed of a multisports hall and a gymnastics hall;
The Loue aqualudic center is composed of an Olympic pool, a fun pool with a slide, an outdoor pool with a slide, an “Aqua” restaurant, a weight room and cardio-training, sauna, hammam, Jacuzzi and diving pools.
Two sports halls: the Sports Hall (multisports hall, boxing hall, wrestling hall , climbing walls , weight rooms and a table tennis hall ) and the Paul-Lafargue hall (multi-activities).
Albert-Camus, Jean-Moulin, Jean-Zay, Jules-Ferry and Paul-Constans gymnasiums composed of a multisports hall, a football field (Albert-Camus) and a gymnastics hall (Paul-Constans ).