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Origin and history

The castle of Bien-Assis is a strong house built in the 15th century on the commune of Montluçon, in the department of l'Allier (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). Located west of the city, on the edge of a plateau overlooking the Etourneaux Creek, it gives its name to the surrounding residential area. Its typical architecture of the second half of the 15th century includes a two-room house body per floor, a square staircase tower flanked by a circular turret, as well as original elements such as Gothic fireplaces, panel doors and fittings.

The seigneury of Bien-Assis was attested in 1460 with Robert de Bien-Assis, then in 1481 passed to Colas de Peret (or Nicolas Dupeyret), bourgeois of Montluçon and treasurer of Duke John II of Bourbon. The castle then changed hands through the families Chasauvert, Mercier, Tardé, Alamargot and La Saigne de Saint-Georges, before being saved from the demolition in 1970 by the company Les Amis de Montluçon. It restores it and discovers in 2015 16th century murals, leading to its total inscription in the Historical Monuments.

First classified in 1929 (and then deregistered in 1933), the castle was partially re-registered in 1965 for its facades and roofs, before an integral protection in 2016. Today, the Friends of Montluçon organize temporary and permanent exhibitions, highlighting local history from prehistory to the 20th century. The vaulted cellar and chapel house a stone collection, including stones saved from the Yellow Castle, demolished in 1963.

The interior architecture reveals remarkable decorations: a ceiling painted in trompe-l'oeil (flowers and interlaces), murals in greyish (Judith and Holopherne cycle, around 1575–94), and ancient graffiti. The restoration saved the roof, the exterior walls and the main rooms, while preserving medieval elements such as the flamboyant Gothic fireplaces and the screw staircase.

Initially the heart of an agricultural farm in the 19th and 20th centuries, the castle barely escaped destruction in the 1960s thanks to the intervention of the Friends of Montluçon. They received the Emile-Mâle Prize in 1993 for their restoration work. Today, the site combines architectural heritage, historical collections and cultural activities, while remaining the property of a private association.

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