The Boulogne sur Mer castle-museum, located in the heart of the fortified town, is an ancient medieval fortress built in the 13th century. If the building alone is worth the visit, the Museum's collections will take you around the world and many different cultures.
In 1825, Viscount Isidore Leroy de Barde, the first natural history painter of King Louis XVIII, acquired a cabinet of curiosities: it was from this collection that the Boulogne sur Mer Museum was created. Taking advantage of the city's proximity to the sea, travellers from the town collected objects from around the world and it is thanks to their donations that the collections are now of great diversity.
A journey from one culture to another
In particular, these collections turned towards contemporary Indigenous cultures and are made up of primitive art and divided into four departments:
- A Mediterranean archaeology collection includes an Egyptian collection devoted to religious beliefs and funeral rites, including the mummy of a stranger from the Lower Period who inspired Auguste Mariette's vocation as an Egyptologist. It also presents one of the most important collections of Greek ceramics in France.
- A collection of local history traces the great moments of Boulogne sur Mer.
- A third collection is dedicated to fine arts and brings together big names such as Courbet, Rodin, Corot or Gallé.
- Finally, a collection of Extra-European Ethnography is an invitation to travel from Oceania to Alaska, for example it brings together some unique Sugpiat ceremonial masks from the island of Kodiak.
An original visit to discover the history of the fortified city!
For more information: http://musee.ville-boulogne-sur-mer.fr/
Not very far (30 minutes by car) and to see also is the city of Calais.
Jessica from Comme des Français
---
Want to discover other interesting museums or places?
- The unknown and yet unavoidable Musée Marmottan-Monet
- The mini Versailles located in the heart of Paris
- The incredible Villa Cavrois
