History of the castle

The 15th century

Guillot Constans, Head of the General Treasurer of Bourbonnais receives from the Duc de Bourbon in 1436 the authorization "to build a castle, fortified house and farmyard surrounded by ditches".
With his daughter Anne's marriage, Avrilly was handed down to Jean Cordier, adviser and tax lawyer of Duc de Bourbon Pierre II, husband of Anne de France, daughter of King Louis XI.

The eastern frontage dates from this period. Strengthened at each angle by a bartizan, you can see in the middle a donjon topped by a high ceiling attic. This attic was furnished with machicolations with lintels. Each lintel is decorated with an ogee arch typical from the 15th century. The northern tower, also from the 15th century has two buttresses between which a drawbridge was placed. Each buttress is surmounted by a pinnacle and a niche intended to receive a statue. Below, the remains of armorial bearings can be seen in an escutcheon. The ground floor of this tower has an ogival vault ceiling: formerly the upper levels were reached by a spiral staircase. The western frontage, demolished in the 19th century, was similar to the eastern one; it included an inner courtyard.

Eastern Frontage of the Castle

The 17th century

In 1629, due to extreme financial problems for the successive owners (Popillon, Filhol), the estate is auctioned and sold to Francois Garnier, President-Treasurer of France in Moulins and adviser of King Louis XIII. His son Jean was mayor of Moulins from 1676 to 1682. Very wealthy, he undertook many transformations of the estate. Anne d'Autriche, Queen of France, King Louis XIII's wife, granted him the right to hold justice.

At that time were built the two pavilions and the porch on which his armorial bearings and figure can still be seen. Pilasters and chains of angle are made of stones with embossing. The porch-pavilion has two levels and a barrel vault ceiling.

Pavilion from the 17th century

The 19th century

Seized in 1688, The castle of Avrilly is allocated in 1707 to Claude de Ligondès, Captain of the King's vessels. Sold to the Vicomte de Bar it will become Antoine de Pontgibaud's property in 1784. Pierre Allier will own the estate in 1800, but in 1803, the owner is count Etienne des Roys, member of the Council of the State with Camille de Tournon, and mayor of Moulins from 1805 to 1816.
His son marries General Hoche's daughter. In 1873, the castle of Avrilly is sold to the count of Tournon, the son of Camille de Tournon, prefect of Rome under Napoleon and father of the countess Jean de Chabannes. Since then, Avrilly remained owned by the family of Chabannes la Palice, his current descendants.

Significant alterations are undertaken in the 19th and 20th century: in 50 years, the castle surface is doubled. The marshy area on which the estate is located is transformed into a series of 7 basins and ponds on 4 different levels. The road of Trevol is diverted to allow the realization of the 100 hectares' park, surrounded by a 3 miles long wall and a 2 miles long grid A gazebo of 75 feet high, pavilions at the 2 entrances and huge dependences are built successively.

Western Frontage of the castle