Montluçon (Allier). Private accommodation, court, military barracks, performance hall, café… In Montluçon, the castle of the Dukes of Bourbon has had many different destinations. After twenty years of being closed to the public, it has now returned to its last use: as a museum. In fact, it was into a musical instrument museum that the castle was transformed in the 1960s, until the City’s collections moved to MuPop (Museum of Popular Music), opened in 2013. Since then, the castle has been closed, except for a few exhibitions occasionally organized on the ground floor. The floors served as reserves for the municipal collections, which combine fine arts, local history and musical collections. “Since the closure of the castle, the project of creating a new museum, dedicated to local history, has gradually emerged, relates Denis Valence, communications manager at the Château de Montluçon. A lot of thought went into rehabilitating it, restoring it, and giving it this new destination by transforming it into a museum of culture and exchange. »
An extension of wood and steel
Two years of work enabled the building to be restored, the last major campaign dating back to the 1930s and focusing mainly on the restoration of its covered gallery. Under the project management of the Kapaa architectural agency, the facades, roofs and floors were rehabilitated, then technical improvements were made: heating and ventilation, electricity, humidity control, compliance with accessibility standards with the construction of an elevator… The biggest architectural gesture remains the construction of a modern extension, made of wood and steel, to house the reception, the ticket office and the site’s shop. A project costing 5 million euros in total, more than half of which was financed by the City and the rest by the State and the Department. During the interventions, the municipal collections – notably the furniture and paintings – found refuge at the Château de la Louvière, a municipal property closed to the public, where they are still located today.
More than five hundred objects have integrated the new permanent exhibition of the castle of the Dukes of Bourbon, which has been deployed since November 11 over 400 square meters on the first floor. “During the work, the excavations carried out revealed several interesting archaeological objects, which are now on display,” specifies Denis Valence. It is in the first room, focused on the evolution of the upper Cher valley from Prehistory to the Middle Ages, that these tools, ceramics and remains of burials take place. Following a chronological path, the route then tells Montluçon from the Middle Ages to the Revolution, when the site became castrum (fortified place) then acquired its castle, completed by Duke Louis II of Bourbon (1339-1410) and his successors in the 15th century. The next room traces its history in the 19th century, when Montluçon was transformed into an important metallurgical and glassmaking center, and the tour ends with a comparison between ancient and current views of the city. “It’s an educational, fun journey, punctuated by various interactive activities to transmit all the information to the public. »
If the second floor is not accessible to visitors – it houses offices – the entire ground floor is reserved for temporary exhibitions, which will be renewed annually, without any particular thematic orientation. “At the moment, we are dedicating an exhibition to the photographer Robert Doisneau (1912-1994). Next year, we are planning an exhibition on the Middle Ages with the Cité des sciences de Paris, then we are considering doing one on street art, on Japanese art… It is a very open program, to be able to meet as many cultural needs as possible. specifies Denis Valence.
