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MOULINS

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 935 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOULINS , a See also:

town of central See also:France, See also:capital of the See also:department of See also:Allier, 121 M. by See also:rail N.W. of See also:Lyons. Pop. (1906), 18,997. The town is situated on the right See also:bank of the Allier, which is here crossed by a remarkable See also:bridge of the 18th See also:century about r000 ft. in length. Moulins did not attain any importance till the 14th century, before which it consisted chiefly of some See also:mills belonging to the See also:dukes of See also:Bourbon. The See also:medieval town occupied a small See also:area, the boundaries of which are marked on the N.E. and S. by the central boulevards occupying the site of the old moats. The See also:modern town, expanding from this See also:nucleus, is limited on the See also:east and See also:south by the railway, the See also:southern portion being traversed by agreeable promenades. To the See also:north is the spacious See also:avenue known as the Cours de Bercy, See also:close by the See also:hospital and the lycee. The more interesting buildings See also:lie within the old See also:enceinte. The See also:chief of these is the See also:cathedral, which consists of a huge See also:choir of the 15th and 16th centuries, and a See also:nave in the See also:early See also:Gothic See also:style but modern in construction and terminated by two towers with See also:stone See also:spires rising to a height of 312 ft. The See also:church possesses a See also:fine See also:triptych attributed to Domenico See also:Ghirlandajo (d. 1494), and fine windows of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Among the See also:

oldest buildings in the town are the square See also:tower of the 14th century (used as a See also:prison) which is the chief relic of the See also:chateau of the dukes of Bourbon, and a See also:belfry of the 15th century. See also:Part of an old Jesuit See also:college serves as the See also:court-See also:house, which contains an archaeological museum. The library, which possesses a valuable See also:Bible of 1115, is part of the hotel-de-ville. Numerous mansions of the 15th and 16th centuries border the streets of the r9 the commencement, and the Gothic revival in the See also:middle, of the 19th century naturally brought about a reaction in favour either of purer Classic forms or of Gothic See also:work, but the See also:vernacular types could not be displaced by the passing See also:fashion, and the See also:influence of See also:Robert See also:Adam is again See also:paramount to-See also:day. old See also:quarter of the town. There is a statue of the poet See also:Theodore de See also:Banville, See also:born at Moulins in 1823. The town is the seat of a See also:prefect, a See also:bishop, and a court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and See also:commerce, and a See also:branch of the Bank of France. Yzeure, 14 m. E. of Moulins, has an interesting Romanesque church (12th century); 7a M. W.S.W. of Moulins is Souvigny, formerly famous for its Cluniac priory. Its church, a fine See also:building of the 11th and 12th centuries, restored in the 15th century, contains the splendid tombs of See also:Louis II. and See also:Charles I., dukes of Bourbon in the 15th century, and other tombs of the Bourbon See also:family, now in ruins. Moulins became the See also:residence of the dukes of Bourbon about the middle of the 14th century, and capital of the duchy towards the end of the 15th century.

In 1566, under Charles IX., an important See also:

assembly of notables was held in the town, at which the judicial See also:system of France was reorganized.

End of Article: MOULINS

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