Souvigny and Bourbon-l'Archambault: The Necropolis of the Dukes of Bourbon
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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+100 France
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1 day
Souvigny and Bourbon-l'Archambault: The Necropolis of the Dukes of Bourbon
250 + 100 XP
In 916 Aimar, the first known ancestor of the Bourbons, gave the church of Souvigny to Cluny, and Souvigny became Cluny's eldest daughter. Two of Cluny's greatest abbots died here, Mayeul in 994 and his successor Odilon; the king of France Hugues Capet came on pilgrimage in 996 after Mayeul's death, the church was rebuilt on the model of Cluny III to take the crowds, and the lords, later dukes, of Bourbon made it their burial place. It is the largest religious building in the Allier. Twelve kilometres west-north-west, Bourbon-l'Archambault is the cradle of the Bourbon name, a spa town that takes its name from the Gaulish healing god Borvo.
Required Activities
1
of 6
Find the effigies of the two Cluny abbots, Mayeul and Odilon, rebuilt in 2009 out of the fragments dug up here in November 2001 and January 2002 after their graves had been lost since the Revolution, and look down through the open vault beneath them at the Merovingian sarcophagus on show inside it
2
of 6
Take the two ducal chapels in turn: the Chapelle Vieille, right of the transept crossing, with its painted vault of the early 1400s, the mausoleum of Louis II de Bourbon and Anne d'Auvergne and a 16th-century Entombment; then the Chapelle Neuve that Jean Poncelet built between 1453 and 1457, where Jacques Morel carved the tomb of Charles I de Bourbon and Agnès, and where Pierre II de Bourbon and Anne de Beaujeu also lie
3
of 6
Pace the 84 metres of the church from door to apse under a vault 17 metres up, counting the two transepts Cluny III gave it as you cross them, then walk the ambulatory round the choir it was consecrated with in 1063 by Peter Damian, and look up at the choir glass of 1438
4
of 6
In the Souvigny museum, work round the Romanesque pillar they call the Zodiaque de Souvigny and match each month's work in the fields to the zodiac sign carved beside it — then find the facsimile of the Bible de Souvigny in the same room
5
of 6
At Bourbon-l'Archambault, stand below the castle and count the towers: three left of the fifteen the fortress once had, pulled down almost entirely in the 19th century and saved from the rest only by the poet Achille Allier — find the one they call Qui qu'en Grogne, 'whoever grumbles at it', and then the 15th-century ramparts and houses in the Sainte-Chapelle quarter
6
of 6
Walk down to the thermal quarter and put your hand in the water that gave the whole Bourbon dynasty its name, from the Gaulish healing god Borvo — the baths were the most famous in France in the 13th century, were rediscovered in the 17th and are still working, and Madame de Montespan came here for the cure every year from 1667 until she died in the town
Find the effigies of the two Cluny abbots, Mayeul and Odilon, rebuilt in 2009 out of the fragments dug up here in November 2001 and January 2002 after their graves had been lost since the Revolution, and look down through the open vault beneath them at the Merovingian sarcophagus on show inside it
Take the two ducal chapels in turn: the Chapelle Vieille, right of the transept crossing, with its painted vault of the early 1400s, the mausoleum of Louis II de Bourbon and Anne d'Auvergne and a 16th-century Entombment; then the Chapelle Neuve that Jean Poncelet built between 1453 and 1457, where Jacques Morel carved the tomb of Charles I de Bourbon and Agnès, and where Pierre II de Bourbon and Anne de Beaujeu also lie
Pace the 84 metres of the church from door to apse under a vault 17 metres up, counting the two transepts Cluny III gave it as you cross them, then walk the ambulatory round the choir it was consecrated with in 1063 by Peter Damian, and look up at the choir glass of 1438
In the Souvigny museum, work round the Romanesque pillar they call the Zodiaque de Souvigny and match each month's work in the fields to the zodiac sign carved beside it — then find the facsimile of the Bible de Souvigny in the same room
At Bourbon-l'Archambault, stand below the castle and count the towers: three left of the fifteen the fortress once had, pulled down almost entirely in the 19th century and saved from the rest only by the poet Achille Allier — find the one they call Qui qu'en Grogne, 'whoever grumbles at it', and then the 15th-century ramparts and houses in the Sainte-Chapelle quarter
Walk down to the thermal quarter and put your hand in the water that gave the whole Bourbon dynasty its name, from the Gaulish healing god Borvo — the baths were the most famous in France in the 13th century, were rediscovered in the 17th and are still working, and Madame de Montespan came here for the cure every year from 1667 until she died in the town
Before you go
Souvigny holds its Saint-Mayeul pilgrimage in May, and its medieval fair, the Festival international des troubadours et saltimbanques, over ten days between the end of July and the beginning of August, when tens of thousands of people fill the village.
The recumbent effigies of Charles I de Bourbon and Agnès de Bourgogne were taken out of the Chapelle Neuve in 2026 for restoration, so that tomb may be empty when you get there; Louis II de Bourbon and Anne d'Auvergne in the Chapelle Vieille, and the two abbots in the nave, are in place. The two ducal chapels are reached only on the guided visit that leaves from the museum, at 3.30pm every day except Tuesday, with the museum visit at 2.30pm and the bell towers at 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The museum's published season ends on 15 November, and in its autumn window it opens 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, bank holidays and weekends, closed on Tuesdays. For a winter visit check moulins-tourisme.com for the reopening date before counting on the chapels.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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