AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Château d'Avrilly is a fairytale estate on the right bank of the Allier river, just north of Moulins in central France's Bourbonnais region. Often called "the château with two faces," it uniquely combines a 15th-century fortified residence complete with moats, drawbridge, and watchtowers with a dramatic 19th-century neo-Gothic façade in brick and stone, all set within a magnificent 107-hectare park designed by renowned landscape architect Achille Duchêne.↗↗
Good to know
- Castle
- Opening hoursVaries by day
- Wheelchair accessparking lot
- Parking
- Good for kids
- 4.6 / 582 reviews
- France
Six Centuries of Architectural Evolution
The story of Avrilly begins in 1436, in the thick of the Hundred Years War, when the General Treasurer of the Bourbonnais built a fortified residence on this marshy ground. The name itself evokes this origin—Avrilly derives from avrillages, the old term for marshland. The medieval face still bears witness to those turbulent times with its moats, keep, drawbridge, machicolated towers, and watchtowers.↗
A prestigious entrance pavilion-porch was added in 1629, considered a miniature gem of classical architecture that would inspire all subsequent developments at the estate. Then came the most dramatic transformation: at the end of the 19th century, the château was acquired by the son of Camille de Tournon, Prefect of Rome under Napoleon and ancestor of the current owners. Under the direction of leading architects and landscape designers of the era, the château doubled in depth, gaining a flamboyant neo-Gothic façade, a 23-metre belvedere, and a French-style garden by Achille Duchêne.
