Château des Aix

The castle is located in the commune of Meillard, about 3 km southwest of the town, in the Allier department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

The Château des Aix consists of a rectangular main building flanked by square-based pavilions, and is surrounded by moats filled with water. The entrance door opening onto the terrace features a rusticated frame derived from Sebastiano Serlio's architectural treatise, as do the Doric pilasters supporting a frieze of the same order, itself surmounted by a triangular pediment. From the feudal castle remain the vast square enclosure, the corner towers, the narrow loopholes, as well as an inner courtyard. In August 2023, the castle hosted for the first time performances from the Théâtres de Bourbon festival, including productions from the Théâtre du Nord-Ouest such as Molière's L'École des femmes.

Charles-François du Buysson, a French officer engaged in the American Revolutionary War, on the side of the insurgents, was born there on August 19, 1752. The castle was classified as a historical monument in 1989, and the outbuildings and park, including its walls and fences, were listed in 2001.

Camille Grégoire, Le château des Aix et ses possesseurs : commune de Meillard, drawing by J.-C. Grégoire, Moulins, L. Grégoire, 1906, 10 p. René Germain (dir.), Dominique Laurent, Maurice Piboule, Annie Regond et Michel Thévenet, Châteaux, fiefs, mottes, maisons fortes et manoirs en Bourbonnais, Éd. de Borée, 2004, 684 p. (ISBN 2-84494-199-0), p. 146-147.

List of castles in Allier List of castles in France List of historical monuments in Allier

Architectural resource: Mérimée

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