Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel de Mora, today seat of the Museum of Youth Illustration, is a private hotel built in Moulins from 1752 by the Cadier de Veauce family. It rises on an ancient square, marked by a flamboyant Gothic tower of the fifteenth century still visible. The building, of classic style, overlooks the courtyard side of the current Voltaire street (old medieval city) and garden side on old walls transformed into running. Its architecture reflects a transition between medieval and modern eras, with subsequent additions.

In the 19th century, the Moreno family of Mora, Spanish exiles, acquired the hotel in 1866 after the failure of the Carlist insurrection of 1852. They add a neo-Gothic wing, creating harmony between Gothic, classical and romantic styles. The building then houses the Desrosiers printing house, where was printed in 1834.The old Bourbonnais d'Achille Allier, illustrated by André Durand. A machine from this printing plant, loaned by the Bourbonnais demulation society, is now on display in the museum.

Purchased in 1948 by the Allier General Council, the hotel first hosts Health and Social Affairs until 1991. In the early 2000s, it was transformed into a youth illustration museum, open to the public since 2005. Partially classified as historical monuments in 1985, it retains remarkable elements: facades, roofs, a wrought iron stairwell, and lounges with preserved decorations (woodworks, carved medallions).

The hotel consists of two perpendicular wings, organized around a trapezoidal courtyard closed by commons and a gate. The habitable part, completed around 1858-1859, contrasts with the outbuildings, arranged later. Inside, the original distribution has been changed, but some spaces, such as the old dining room with carved woodwork (representing children, musical instruments and vegetal motifs), remind of its faste past.

The present museum showcases this architectural heritage while celebrating the art of youth illustration. It integrates historical elements, such as the Desrosiers machine, and offers cultural activities, like the Café des Papas organized in the glass window. This place thus symbolizes the reappropriation of an aristocratic and industrial heritage at the service of a contemporary project dedicated to creation and education.

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