Title: Moulins, Allier Content: Moulins is a commune in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the préfecture (capital) of the department and the historical capital of the old province of Bourbonnais (the Duchy of Bourbonnais). ==History== Moulins experienced its golden age in the 15th century, when the Dukes of Bourbon lived in the city on the Allier river. The region of the northern Massif Central where is Moulins is called the Bourbonnais after the House of Bourbon. Moulins became the capital of Allier on 4 March 1790 with the creation of the departments in France. During the German occupation in the Second World War, the border between occupied France and the pro-German France (Vichy France) went through the midst of Moulins. ==Geography== Moulins is along the Allier river, mainly on the right (eastern) side of the river. It has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is . The distances from Moulins to other cities are: * Paris, the national capital - ; * Lyon, the regional capital - ; * Reims - ; * Bordeaux - ; * Toulouse - ; * Montpellier - ; * Strasbourg - ; * Nantes - ; * Marseille - .  Moulins is surrounded by the communes Avermes, Yzeure, Toulon-sur-Allier, Bressolles and Neuvy. ===Climate=== The climate of Moulins, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of Moulins are known, in French, as Moulinois (women: Moulinoises). With a population of 19,762, Moulins has a population density of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Moulins Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:30000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:2500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 25979 bar:1975 from:0 till: 26067 bar:1982 from:0 till: 25159 bar:1990 from:0 till: 22799 bar:1999 from:0 till: 21892 bar:2006 from:0 till: 20599 bar:2014 from:0 till: 19762 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 25979 fontsize:S text: 25,979 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 26067 fontsize:S text: 26,067 shift:(-15,5) bar:1982 at: 25159 fontsize:S text: 25,159 shift:(-15,5) bar:1990 at: 22799 fontsize:S text: 22,799 shift:(-15,5) bar:1999 at: 21892 fontsize:S text: 21,892 shift:(-15,5) bar:2006 at: 20599 fontsize:S text: 20,599 shift:(-15,5) bar:2014 at: 19762 fontsize:S text: 19,762 shift:(-15,5) ==Administration== Moulins is the prefecture of the Allier department since 1800. It is also the capital of the arrondissement of Moulins and the administrative centre  of two cantons: * Moulins-1, formed by 6 communes and part of Moulins, with 18,030 inhabitants (2014). * Moulins-2, formed by 22 communes and part of Moulins, with 19,368 inhabitants (2014). It is part of the intercommunality Moulins Communauté . === Sister cities === Moulins is twinned with: * Bad Vilbel, Germany * Montepulciano, Italy ==Places of interest== Some interesting places in Moulins are: * The Moulins Cathedral Basilica (Cathédrale Notre- Dame-de-l'Annonciation de Moulins) is a Roman Catholic cathedral. * The Anne de Beaujeu Museum is an art museum. * The National Center of Costume and Scenography (Centre national du Costume de scène) is a museum dedicated to stage costumes and sets. ==Gallery== File:Allier-moulins.jpg|Moulins and the Allier river. File:Cathédrale Notre Dame et église du Sacré Coeur de Moulins 2006-07-24.jpg|Notre Dame cathedral and Sacre Coeur church, Moulins. File:Moulins-eglise-du-sacre-coeur-b.JPG|Sacre Coeur church, Moulins. File:Moulins Tour Jacquemart 1.jpg|Jacquemart Tower. File:MOULINS museeAnneDeBeaujeu.jpg|Anne de Beaujeu Museum. File:Moulins (Allier, France) Eglise St Pierre (1).jpg|St. Peter church. ==People from or related to Moulins== * Coco Chanel, fashion designer, lived several years in Moulins. ==Related pages== * Arrondissements of the Allier department * Communes of the Allier department