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Photo Mehun Sur Yevre

Mehun-sur-Yèvre Medieval town and porcelain factory

Just a few minutes from Bourges, the medieval town of Mehun-sur-Yèvre offers superb views from the gardens of Duke Jean de Berry, located at the foot of the Château Charles VII and the collegiate church of Notre-Dame. While the Pillivuyt factory celebrates more than two centuries of porcelain-making expertise, the Pôle de la Porcelaine presents the finest pieces from Berry in a modern and original scenography.

Tourist Information Office
Postal address: Place du 14 juillet 18500 Mehun-sur-Yèvre
Telephone number: 02 48 57 35 51
E-mail: [email protected]

Getting there

Privilege Pass

For one year, save over €100 on admission tickets and events at over 30 sites (châteaux, parks, gardens, museums, exhibitions, historic towns, etc.).

Privilege Pass price at Mehun-sur-Yèvre: €3 instead of €6 for a visit to the Pôle de la Porcelaine and the Château-Musée Charles VII

Activities

Individual visit to the Pôle de la Porcelaine and the Château-Musée Charles VII

Price :
  • Full price: €6
  • Reduced: 3€
  • Privilege Pass: €3 (buy my Privilege Pass)
  • Visit to the temporary exhibition at the Pôle de la Porcelaine only: €3
  • Free: unemployed persons, children under 10, disabled persons

Guided group tour “Discovering white gold”: Visit to the Pillivuyt factory or the old porcelain-making districts, followed by a visit to the Pôle de la Porcelaine.

Full price: €10

Duration 2 hours – Bookings by telephone on 02 48 57 06 19 or by e-mail at [email protected]

Guided group tour “In the footsteps of Joan of Arc”: Visit of the old town and the Charles VII Castle-Museum

Full price: €10

Bookings by telephone on 02 48 57 00 71 or by e-mail at [email protected]

Opening times

Open from 7 April to 1 November

7 April to 3 July: Tuesday to Sunday, 2.30pm to 6pm

4 July to 31 August: daily, 10.30am to 12pm and 2.30pm to 6.30pm

3 to 18 October: Saturdays and Sundays only, 2.30pm to 6pm

20 to 1 November: Tuesday to Sunday, 2.30pm to 6pm

Annual closure: 2 November to mid-March, except for groups by appointment

Open every day except Mondays from 2.30pm to 6pm during the Easter and All Saints’ Day holidays – Open every public holiday during the season.

Walks along the canals and the Yèvre river

Stroll along the banks of the Canal de Berry with special cycle access.

Free – All year round.

Events 2026

  • Exhibition by Jean Chen at the Musée Charles VII: 28 March to 20 September
  • La Borne exhibition : from 12 February to 21 April – Place du 14 juillet
  • Venetian Carnival: 25 and 26 April, free of charge
  • Salon des Métiers d’Art: 11 and 12 April
  • Rosière Festival: 7 June
  • Bourges Contemporain: exhibition from June at the Pôle de la Porcelaine
  • Fêtes Médiévales: 4 and 5 July, free of charge
  • Jardins en Fête: free concerts on Sundays in August at 5pm in the gardens of Duke Jean de Berry

Crime in the castle

2 hours of investigation – Humour, suspense and comedy, two hours of guaranteed excitement. Become an investigator for an evening. Discover this new type of murder party made in Berry!

Saturday 20 June at 6.30pm and Saturday 10 October at 6pm:

Practical info

  • Annual opening times

    Porcelain and Castle Centre-Charles VII Museum

    Open from 28 March to 1 November

    7 April to 3 July: Tuesday to Sunday, 2.30pm to 6pm

    4 July to 31 August: daily, 10.30am to 12pm and 2.30pm to 6.30pm

    3 to 18 October: Saturdays and Sundays only, 2.30pm to 6pm

    20 to 1 November: Tuesday to Sunday, 2.30pm to 6pm

    Annual closure: 2 November to mid-March, except for groups by appointment

    Open every day except Mondays from 2.30pm to 6pm during the Easter and All Saints’ Day holidays – Open every public holiday during the season.

  • Access and transport

    Access by bike, car, train (SNCF station) and bus (bus line 185 – Bourges < Vierzon).

    Car park on Place du Général Leclerc at the foot of the château.
    Cycle shelters near the Pôle de la Porcelaine and the Charles VII château-museum.

    A 71 exit 6 (Vierzon), exit 7 (Bourges), then D2076 – 18km from Bourges – 16km from Vierzon – GPS: 47.14 – 2.21

  • Catering

    Cafeteria at the Pôle de la Porcelaine.

    Click here for a list of the town’s restaurants.

  • Payment methods

    Cheque, cash, credit card.

  • Host languages

    Visitors welcome in French and English.

  • Free admission and reduced rates (on presentation of proof of entitlement)

    Free for jobseekers, children under 10 and people with disabilities.

    Privilege Pass price at Mehun-sur-Yèvre: €3 instead of €6 for a visit to the Pôle de la Porcelaine and the Château-Musée Charles VII

    (click here to buy your Pass and benefit from reduced rates)

  • PRM accessibility

    PRM access to the Pôle de la Porcelaine (lift).

    One disabled parking space in front of the Pôle de la Porcelaine.

Find out more about the venue

Twelve châteaux in Mehun-sur-Yèvre's history 

The first document to mention the castle is a charter dating back to 820 AD, which specifies the name Magdunum. The site was altered almost a dozen times between the 9th and 14th centuries. The only evidence of the earliest period can be seen in the post holes in the cellars, which were used to support the first wooden buildings.

Mehun-sur-Yèvre, summer residence of Duke Jean de Berry 

So it was on the foundations of a defensive castle that Jean de Berry had one of the most beautiful residences in the world built, as Froissart, the great 14th century chronicler, liked to say! Duke Jean de Berry was a great prince, and as he liked to say himself, he was the son, brother and uncle of a king! This great patron of the arts and lover of the arts was in fact the son of King John II the Good, brother of Charles V and uncle of Charles VI. He owned 17 châteaux throughout the kingdom of France and spent almost 30 years working on Mehun, turning it into an exceptional pleasure residence at the crossroads of Flamboyant Gothic and International Gothic! Just imagine the additional 20m of stone superstructure above the keep.

The Duke died in 1416 at the age of 76 without a male heir, and his possessions fell to Charles de Valois, the future Charles VII, who fled Paris, which had fallen into the hands of his Burgundian enemies allied with the English. He arrived at the castle in 1422 and breathed his last in 1461! He resided in Mehun and conducted his politics from Bourges, a little like Versailles and Paris a few centuries later. Many famous people came to Mehun: Jacques Cœur, a great traveller and the king’s treasurer, Joan of Arc, who received her letters of nobility here on 29 December 1429, and the beautiful Agnès(Sorel!), mistress of King Charles VII.

From the death of Charles VII to the Revolution and the present day 

After the death of Charles VII, Berry fell into disuse, with his son Louis XI preferring the banks of the Loire. A garrison took up residence in the castle. The first signs of destruction appeared in the 16th century when the “ fires of God “, lightning, struck the metal superstructures that decorated the castle’s chapel. The roofs and frameworks disappeared and the château remained in this state until the Revolution, when it was confiscated as national property and bought by a quarryman who dismantled it over a period of 22 years. It became the property of the town in the 19th century, the spiral staircase was rebuilt and the museum opened in 1903.

The Charles VII Castle-Museum in Mehun-sur-Yèvre, a historic town 

A major site in French history, the château dominates a setting of water and greenery… Transformed into stone laceworks built for Jean de Berry, the favourite residence of King Charles VII, this site has welcomed Charles V, Joan of Arc, Jacques Cœur, Louis XI, Louis XII, Henri II… Mehun is a certain idea of the Renaissance before the Loire Valley.

Beneath the high, elegant vaults of the keep, which witnessed the ennoblement of Joan of Arc, the collections cover a wide range of themes relating to the Middle Ages: from the construction of the building to sculptures, from daily life to pomp and circumstance, from archaeology to the history of the most famous figures, with an emphasis on major works from the French Middle Ages. Guided tours take visitors from surprise to surprise, right up to the panoramic terrace.

Place du Général Leclerc 18500 Mehun-sur-Yèvre – 02 48 57 00 71

Porcelain centre 

Porcelain was first manufactured in Europe in the 18th century. Under the impetus of Charles Pillivuyt, production developed in Mehun-sur-Yèvre in the mid-19th century. Two centuries later, the Mehun company is still a leader in its sector: culinary arts and Michelin-starred restaurants.

The Pôle de la Porcelaine showcases the finest pieces of porcelain from the Berry region in a modern and original scenography: unique pieces created byAlphonse Lamarre ‘s “la Spéciale” workshop, veritable jewels of Art Nouveau; timeless and emblematic objects such as the “bar à pans” or “tasse bistrot” cup created in 1904, the mazagran, the lion’s head soup tureen, etc.

Rue des Grands Moulins 18500 Mehun-sur-Yèvre – 02 48 57 06 19

Labels  Town of Mehun-sur-Yèvre