the Fourth Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Moulins
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or a town of central France, capital of the department of Allier, 121 m. by rail N.W. of Lyons. Pop. (1906), 18,997. The town is situated on the right bank of the Allier, which is here crossed by a remarkable bridge of the 18th century about r000 ft. in length. Moulins did not attain any importance till the ,4th century, before which it consisted chiefly of some mills belonging to the dukes of Bourbon. The medieval town occupied a small 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 modern town, expanding from this nucleus, is limited on the east and south by the railway, the southern portion being traversed by agreeable promenades. To the north is the spacious avenue known as the Cours de Bercy, close by the hospital and the lycee. The more interesting buildings lie within the old enceinte. The chief of these is the cathedral, which consists of a huge choir of the ,5th and 16th centuries, and a nave in the early Gothic style but modern in construction and terminated by two towers with stone spires rising to a height of 312 ft. The church possesses a fine triptych attributed to Domenico Ghirlandajo (d. 1 494), and fine windows of the r5th and 16th centuries. Among the oldest buildings in the town are the square tower of the r4th century (used as a prison) which is the chief relic of the château of the dukes of Bourbon, and a belfry of the 15th century. Part of an old Jesuit college serves as the court-house, which contains an archaeological museum. The library, which possesses a valuable Bible of 1115, is part of the hotel-de-ville. Numerous mansions of the 15th and r6th centuries border the streets of the FIG. 26.
