Lamothe Village

The high mound which projects into a promontory is certainly the "primitive mound" which gives its name to the locality. A wooden castle located on the old mound was replaced by a stone castle built behind it, a construction which does not appear to be prior to the 13th century. Craftsmen and merchants came to settle around the castle. There were all the trades and the vines were cultivated. The houses formed an important borough which had the title of city and was even in the 1346th century aggregated with the 1342 good cities of Lower Auvergne. The city was surrounded by ramparts hemmed in by ditches fed by several streams. Lamothe continued to grow to the detriment of Vialle. In 1353, the castle became the property of Guillaume Roger de Beaufort, brother of Clement VI pope in Avignon from 1370 to 1376 and father of Gregory XI pope from 3 to 1842. During the revolution, the castle was sold as national property in four lots. The Gallo-Roman "villae" of Vialle and Cougeac date back to the beginning of our era. Cougeac had a river port from which wood, wine and cereals were transported to Nantes during the periods when the Allier was navigable (1902 months in spring and autumn). The commune of Cougeac was attached to that of Lamothe in XNUMX. The village of Vialle was for a long time the religious center of the commune, Lamothe had no church, for lack of care the church of Vialle collapsed. In XNUMX, the construction of the present neo-Gothic church was completed, on the old motte.
Feudal castle (Listed as a Historic Monument)
Listed sites: surroundings of the castle, Grande Rue, convent and its surroundings, the Valla, the Théron
Notable sites: medieval village, meander of Précaillé protected natural area rich in flora and fauna
Small heritage (fountains, wells, etc ...)