The old town of Bourbon-Lancy was built in the Middle Ages at the foot of the castle built by the first lord of Bourbon, Anseide.
Today, it remains a picturesque old quarter where the half-timbered houses and their cascades of flowers throughout the season offer passers-by the remarkable charm of this area.

From the “maison de bois” to the garden of the Collegiate Church, via the ruelle aux loups and the square of Madame de Genlis, the charm of these places steeped in history will not leave you indifferent.

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The ramparts, which were no longer needed after the feudal period, were integrated into the properties that were built on one side on Chemin des Tours and on the other on Rue Notre-Dame.

The view from this walk along the ramparts is unchanged, and is almost the same as the view enjoyed by the lords of the castle and their sentries.

Discover the Remparts path, passing through Rue Notre-Dame, the ruelle aux loups, Place de l’Ermitage, Rue Pingré and the Town Hall.

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The Belfry is now a listed monument and is home to the “Beurdin”, a colourful automaton that rings the bell every hour and sticks out its tongue at passers-by.

The work of the sculptor Georges Kirsch, this character, whose local name evokes a kind but rather simple man, symbolises the little people who lived in this part of the city until recently.

Discover the history of the beginning of the 20th century and meet the “Fratrie des Beurdins” during your visit.

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The Belfry

This former main gate of the medieval walled city was inaugurated on Sunday 4 April 1389 by Philip II, then Duke of Burgundy, with his son John, who later became the famous “John the Fearless”, at his side. At the time, it was equipped with a drawbridge, the location of which can still be seen, as well as the passage of the chains. Behind it, a portcullis descended, and the whole was closed by a heavy wooden door. At the top of the tower, a lookout was placed to keep an eye on the surroundings. From the 16th century onwards, a clock was installed here, hence the name “clock tower”, still used by the inhabitants of the town.

The wooden house known as Maison Sévigné

This half-timbered house is also classified as a historical monument and dates from the beginning of the 16th century. It is said that Madame de Sevigne stayed here. The building had a second floor but in 1852 a fire destroyed the roof and the top floor.

The Collegiate Garden

This very pretty little formal garden was laid out on the site of a former collegiate church founded in 1495 by Guy de Salins, Lord of La Nocle. At the bottom of the garden stands a pink marble column of Roman origin. It is the largest remaining vestige of this period in Bourbon-Lancy.

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The monuments in the town centre of Bourbon-Lancy are to be discovered:

• the Town Hall built in the 18th century
• The Puzenat and Sarrien Castles, former residences of the 18th and 19th centuries: visit the exteriors only.
• Church of the Sacred Heart

Original Revival style, it was built in 1881 and consecrated by Cardinal Penaud on 20 October 1896.

It stands on the site of the chapel and convent of the Ursulines, which, during the revolution, was transformed into “popular meeting halls” and then demolished. All that remains is the bell tower cross which was placed on the road to Chalmoux and the white stone altar given to the Ursuline church by Louis and Pauline Pinot in 1857, which is in the present church.

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The front of this altar is in the form of an open triptych, the hinges of which are the tall columns with Corinthian capitals.

At the top of the altar runs the rampart of a city with its towers and battlements, a representation of the heavenly Jerusalem, the abode of Christ and the saints.
The central panel, the Virgin crowned with the Child, recalls the Ursulines’ devotion to Mary.
To his right, St John the Evangelist, patron saint of the hospital and the upper town.
To his left St Joseph holding the flowery staff, sign of his election to be Mary’s husband.

The two adjacent statues are St Louis crowned and St Paul, names of the donors.

On the two smaller panels are depicted St. Celt holding the palm of martyrdom and St. Peter, patron saint of the universal church.

Two angels frame the triptych: the angel of the mass and perhaps the guardian angel of St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursulines.
On the left, Christ at the Tomb is a work by Merlette, 1889.

• Church of Saint-Nazaire

Classified as a Cluniac site, its construction dates back to the end of the 10th century. It is one of the rare representatives of the early Romanesque style.
This monument, squat on the outside but of majestic proportions inside, was the church of a priory dependent on Cluny. The church was founded in 1030 by Anséide de Bourbon (the lord after whom the town is named).
The nave, with its panelled ceilings, represents one of the last testimonies of Carolingian type construction.

It is the only one of its kind in the world to have been built in the 19th century, and it was saved by Ferdinand Sarrien, the future President of the Council of the Third Republic and Mayor of Bourbon-Lancy.

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Classified as a Historic Monument in 1893, it was then restored and became a Municipal Museum.

The European Federation of Cluniac Sites aims to bring together the places in Europe that contributed to the extraordinary influence of the Abbey of Cluny (Southern Burgundy) from the 10th to the 18th century! spiritual, artistic, economic, political and social influence. The monks of Cluny were responsible for the emergence of hundreds of towns and cities. Each of them is the holder of a piece of this unique European cultural heritage.

• The hamlet of Le Fourneau (part of the commune of Bourbon-Lancy)

This hamlet is located 5 km from the town centre towards Moulins on the banks of the Loire.

On the village square is exposed the Glacière with the most significant machines of an installation which, at the beginning of the 20th century, supplied hotels, restaurants, bars, butchers, pork butchers… of the surroundings with ice loaves.

The compressor was driven either by a water turbine or by a Winterthur coal gas engine. Out of use since 1936, this machine was brought out of oblivion 60 years later by a team of enthusiasts and put on static display.

The Winterthur engine and the reproduced frame are very representative of the technique of the 1900s.

• Centre Hospitalier Fondation d’Aligre

With its chapel and thermal establishment dating from the 19th century. Installed in the former convent of the Visitation (now the Grand Hotel), the hospital of the Baths founded by François Pingré de Farivilliers in 1697, quickly became too small. In 1841, the Marquis and Marquise d’Aligre donated 100,000 francs and several estates to the town of Bourbon-Lancy. After the death of his wife in 1843, the Marquis became increasingly involved in the town. In particular, he wanted the inhabitants to have clean and healthy water. He had a fountain built in Place Saint-Léger. He wanted to increase the capacity and quality of care at the hospital. He decided to build a new establishment.

The marquis did not see the laying of the first stone as he died in 1847, after having written several wills and codicils bequeathing the hospice, estimated at nearly four million francs at the time, to the town. According to the marquis’ wishes, the chapel was built first. He wanted it to be his last home. For 150 years, transformations and extensions have followed one another, while preserving the aesthetics of the initial architecture.

Public health establishment, medico-social sector of medicine, convalescence (48 beds), accommodation for the elderly (214 beds)

Neo-Gothic chapel located in the Aligre hospital. Altar and pulpit from the 17th century. Former thermal baths of Bourbon-Lancy

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