Page 349 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

celebrated sight is the
PILGRIMAGES AND OSTENSIONS Flam boyant Gothic Cathédrale
Parishes in the Auvergne and the Limousin are renowned Notre-Dame, where members
for honouring their saints in a series of popular outdoor of the Bourbon court appear
processions that appear on the UNESCO Intangable amid the saints in the 15th-
Cultural Heritage list. Ascension Day sees the Virgin of and 16th-century stained-
Orcival carried above the village by night, accompanied glass windows. The treasury
by gypsies and their children for baptism. Every seven contains a lumi nous 15th-
years a score of villages in the Limousin hold Ostensions, century Virgin and Child
when the saints’ relics are paraded through the streets triptych by the “Master of
into the surrounding woods. The Ostension season begins Moulins”. Benefactors Pierre II,
the Sunday after Easter and runs until June. The next Duke of Bourbon, and his wife
event in the seven-year cycle will be held in 2023. Anne de Beaujeu, bedecked in
embroidery and jewels, are
shown being introduced to a
Musée National Adrien- rose garden and spectacular less richly dressed Madonna.
Dubouché flowerbeds are worth a visit. The tower keep and the
" ⌂ Pl Winston Churchill The 12th-century Église de single remaining wing of
# 10am–5:45pm Wed–Mon St-Pierre is a surprise, with the Bourbon Vieux Château
¢ 1 Jan, 25 Dec ∑ musee- giant stone columns and a features a superb collection
adriendubouche.fr huge barrel-vaulted ceiling. of sculpture, painting and
decorative art from the 12th
Musée des Beaux-Arts to the 16th centuries. Housed
de Limoges 7 in the former cavalry barracks
" ⌂ 1 pl de l’Évêché # 9:30– is a magnificent collection of
6pm Wed–Mon ¢ Public hols Moulins 10,000 theatrical costumes.
∑ museebal.fr Also worth a visit is the
! E4 ⌂ Allier £ @ n Rue 19th-century Maison Mantin,
Musée de la Résistance et François Péron; www. a bourgeois town house which
de la Déportation moulins-tourisme.com is now an interesting museum.
" ⌂ Rue Neuve Saint- Capital of the Bourbonnais
Étienne # 9:30–5pm Wed– and seat of the Bourbon Cathédrale Notre-Dame
Sun ¢ 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec Dukes since the 10th century, "' ⌂ Pl des Vosges
∑ resistance-massif- Moulins flourished during the § 04 70 20 57 77 # Treasury:
central.fr early Renaissance. Its most 9am–6pm daily ¢ 25 Dec

6
Montluçon
! D4 ⌂ Allier £ @ n 67ter
bd de Courtais; www.
montlucontourisme.com
Montluçon is the economic
centre of the region, a small
town with a medieval core.
At its heart there is a Bourbon
château, which now houses
temporary exhibitions. Jardin
Wilson, a pleasant jardin à la
française in the medieval
quarter, sits on the original
ramparts of the town. Mostly
destroyed in the 18th century,
little remains of the ramparts
now. The stunning restored

A bustling outdoor café
with a view of Moulins’s
Cathédrale Notre-Dame
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