Souvigny

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Coordinates: 46°32′08″N 3°11′34″E / 46.5355555556, 3.19277777778

Commune of Souvigny
Location
Souvigny (France)
Souvigny
Administration
Country France
Region Auvergne
Department Allier
Arrondissement Moulins
Canton Souvigny
Intercommunality Moulins
Mayor Christian Soteau
(2008-)
Statistics
Elevation 224 m–357 m
(avg. 242 m)
Land area¹ 44,35 km²
Population²
(1999)		 1952
 - Density 44/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 03275/ 03210
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France

Souvigny is a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France.

Today the main town of a canton of the Allier department, Souvigny has long been one of the major towns in the Bourbonnais (it used to be the capital of that region), and the royal House of Bourbon was based there. Ties with the nearby Cluny Abbey add to its rich history. [1]

Souvigny was nominated “great regional site of Auvergne” in 1993 on the basis of its architectural riches, and subsequently, in 2003, it was made "great Romanesque sanctuary of Auvergne".

The museums, gardens, annual exhibitions, and excursions to the Priory attract a great many tourists every year. The conserved wooded areas add to interest for tourists.

The Priory houses the remains of two abbots of Cluny who died at Souvigny: Mayeul, the fourth abbot (who died in 994) and his successor Odilon (who passed away in 1049). Their sepulchres, which had sank into oblivion after the ravishings of the French Revolution, were rediscovered by archaeologists in 2001 and 2002. [2]

The town numbers some 2000 inhabitants, and has two primary schools and a public nursery school. Public events include—

  • a cookery demonstration (third weekend of January)
  • an antiques fair (in May)
  • a medieval fair (beginning on the last Saturday of July) [3]
  • autumn music days (last weekend of September)
  • regional sale of antiquarian books (in November). [4]

[edit] Architecture

Arches in the Abbey Church
Arches in the Abbey Church

The Benedictine Priory is outstanding in the Bourbonnais region. Beside a few abbots, the Dukes of Bourbon were buried here.

The region shows a convergence of styles. While Romanesque buildings in the proper sense are not found here, influences from Auvergne, Berry and Bourguignon are combined. The restoration around 1435 exemplifies a more straightforward Gothic style.[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.ville-souvigny.com/ (accessed September 30, 2007)
  2. ^ Souvigny, site officiel
  3. ^ http://www.souvigny.com/ (accessed September 30, 2007)
  4. ^ Souvigny, site officiel
  5. ^ [Larousse] Encyclopédie française: La grande encyclopédie, Paris 1971-76:1902-03
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