Old Vichy district | Vichy Mon amour

A little history

The neighborhood

This district, which overlooks the Allier and its parks, differs from the “Vichy aux Bains” where the thermal activity was developed. Its approach is multiple: from Rue Hubert-Colombier, coming from the shopping center or the opposite, preferably towards the Source des Célestins. Old Vichy plays a double visiting card: that of its heritage and its cultural places. This walk is fed by historical periods whose eclectic architectures testify: Medieval; art Deco; neo classical or neo Gothic.

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The Celestine spring

Let’s go to boulevard Kennedy, to reach the Source des Célestins, the emblematic water of Vichy, with beneficial properties for digestion. Since the Middle Ages, it has emerged at the foot of the Célestins rock, then in an artificial cave. Since 1910, sheltered by an oval-shaped pavilion, this site welcomes many visitors. For the spring that flows in a conch equipped with four taps allows walkers and curists to drink or fill some bottles.

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The houses of the district

old gingham

The Three Pillars House

The House of the Three Pillars is a misnomer since its name comes from the three pillars that supported the floor… Before its demolition. Located at 7 rue d’Allier, the building housed an auditorium of justice, but especially the first town hall of Vichy, from 1790 to 1801.

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Maison Albert Londres

This neo-Gothic corner house with two turrets is the birthplace of Albert Londres, the famous journalist and writer considered to be the father of "grand reportage".

Rue Hubert-Colombier

In the Old Vichy, the visual sensations are constantly delighted. For this, you must also take the rue Hubert-Colombier, the passage between this district and the Vichy thermal. It offers an amazing mosaic of villas with architectures of various inspirations: neo medieval, art Nouveau, Renaissance, neo-Flemish, etc. A few steps away from Saint-Blaise, the Castel Français (at number 1). This neo-medieval villa is the work, like the majority of the villas on the street, of architect Antoine Percilly. Four levels make up this imposing building, with its sober decoration, which has been listed as a historical monument since 1989. Note the bust of a soldier standing guard over the street on its turret. A little further on (at number 9), the Van Dyck villa and its brick facing, decorated with sculpted elements (bases, volutes) and earthenware frieze expresses its neo-Flemish style.

Saint-Blaise Church

Notre-Dame-des-Malades

Before reaching the Saint-Blaise church, jewel of the Old Vichy, we walk along a parking lot where the Clock Tower was erected, vestige of the old castle, which collapsed in 1987. This tower was used as a belvedere to admire the view of the Allier and as a bell tower housing the town’s bell. The exterior austerity of Saint-Blaise, built between 1925 and 1956, contrasts strongly with its Art Deco interior decoration. The building has been listed as a historical monument since 1991. The two Vichy architects, Jean Liogier and Antoine Chanet, integrated the “old church”, dedicated from its origin to Notre-Dame. Paintings, mosaics, marble, onyx, marquetry, stained glass Way of the Cross, Carrara marble baptismal fonts, etc. are a delight for the eyes and the mind.

They have marked

The Old Vichy

Valery Larbaud

Born in Vichy, was an innovative poet and writer, who also made a point of discovering the talents of foreign writers he met during his many travels : Butler, Joyce, Faulkner, Svevo, Gomez de la Serna… The municipal multimedia library houses the writer’s library (14,000 books, 200 manuscripts, 8,800 letters, prints, photographs, etc.) preserved in its furniture and according to their original classification. The Centre Culturel in Vichy, located in place of the former Petit Casino, bears his name.

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Madame de Sevigne

Famous curist, the Marquise made two cure stays in Vichy, in 1676 and 1677, to treat rheumatism in her hands and knees. In her letters to Madame de Grignan, the Marquise de Sévigné spoke of Vichy in these terms: ‘It is certain that the waters here are miraculous’; ‘I therefore took the waters this morning my very dear. Ah! how nasty they are (…). We go to the fountain at six o’clock. Everyone is there. We drink, and we look very bad, for imagine that they are boiling and have a very unpleasant taste of saltpetre.”

J’y vais

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