{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox French commune |name = Souvigny |commune status = Commune |image = Souvigny (www.xtof.photo).jpg |caption = A panoramic view of Souvigny with the priori |image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Souvigny 03.svg |arrondissement = Moulins |canton = Souvigny |INSEE = 03275 |postal code = 03210 |mayor = Michel Barbarin<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr}}</ref> |term = 2020–2026 |intercommunality = CA Moulins Communauté |coordinates = {{coord|46.5356|3.1928|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m = 242 |elevation min m = 224 |elevation max m = 357 |area km2 = 44.35 |population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}} |population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} |population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}} }}
'''Souvigny''' ({{IPA|fr|suviɲi}}) is a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France.
Today the main town of a canton of the Allier department, Souvigny has long been one of the major towns in the Bourbonnais (of which it was once the capital), and the royal House of Bourbon was based there. Ties with the nearby Cluny Abbey add to its rich history.<ref name="Off">[http://www.ville-souvigny.com/ Town hall website].</ref>
==Population== {{Historical populations |source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8643952?geo=COM-03275#tableau-POPREF_G1 Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023], INSEE</ref> |percentages = pagr |align = none |1968 |2212 |1975 |2119 |1982 |1929 |1990 |2024 |1999 |1952 |2007 |1950 |2012 |1949 |2017 |1828 |2023 |1698 }}
==Tourism== Souvigny was nominated “great regional site of Auvergne” in 1993 on the basis of its architectural riches, and subsequently, in 2003, it was made "great Romanesque sanctuary of Auvergne".
===Sights=== The museums, gardens, annual exhibitions, and excursions to the priory attract a great many tourists every year. The conserved wooded areas add to interest for tourists.
Souvigny Priory houses the remains of two abbots of Cluny who died at Souvigny: Mayeul, the fourth abbot (who died in 994) and his successor Odilon (who died in 1049). Their sepulchres, which had fallen into oblivion after the ravishings of the French Revolution, were rediscovered by archaeologists in 2001 and 2002.<ref name="Off" />
The town has two primary schools and a public nursery school. Public events include: * a botanical fair (in April) * an antiques fair (in May) * a medieval fair (beginning on the last Saturday of July) <ref>http://www.souvigny.com/ (accessed September 30, 2007)</ref> * autumn music days (last weekend of September) * regional sale of antiquarian books (in November).<ref name="Off" />
===Architecture=== left|thumb|''Arches in the Abbey Church'' The Benedictine Priory and priory church of St Peter and St Paul is outstanding in the Bourbonnais region. Beside a few abbots, the Dukes of Bourbon were buried here. In 2010, the burial chapel was restored to mark the 600th anniversary of the death of Duke Louis II of Bourbon who is buried there.
The region shows a convergence of styles. While Romanesque buildings in the proper sense are not found here, influences from Auvergne, Berry and Bourguignon are combined. The restoration around 1435 exemplifies a more straightforward Gothic style.<ref>''[Larousse] Encyclopédie française: La grande encyclopédie'', Paris 1971-76:1902-03</ref>
==See also== *Communes of the Allier department
== External links == *''11 centenaire de la Maison de Bourbon'', historic Clicquot organ by Jean-Luc Perrot [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQoLxUorh6I YouTube]
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{Allier communes}}
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Category:Communes of Allier Category:Bourbonnais
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