Visit museums in Perigord !

There are many tourist sites to discover in Périgord. The Caves, the castles (fr), the troglodyte shelters... The border is thin, in this very cultural territory, between the tourist sites and the museums  because all result from the will to transmit our history, our heritage, in a playful and original way. Here are the museums to discover in the Dordogne, to visit with family and friends, all year round (for the most part) and not only when it rains !

Museums on History and Prehistory

• The International Center of Parietal Art, Lascaux 4: This is the essential place in Périgord and the region, the cave for which tens of thousands of visitors flock to Périgord Noir, all year round. It is a museum as much as a cave, with a new, original, interactive museography suitable for all ages. Lascaux 4 captivates the attention, answers a maximum of questions on parietal art, the lifestyles of our ancestors and the Périgord.

• Lascaux 2: Lascaux 2 is the genesis of the International Center of Parietal Art, it is the first reproduction, the first facsimile of the original cave (which can no longer be visited for reasons of preservation of this priceless heritage) . Today, it is a place that still welcomes visitors, in an intimate, warm and rare atmosphere. For a graceful discovery of these exceptional cave paintings...

• Le Thot: The Center for Initiation to Prehistory consists of a park with living animals, in relation to those who lived in the Vézère Valley at the time of our ancestors who drew the paintings of Lascaux, as well than a museum with information complementary to the visit of Lascaux (the caves).

• The Cro-Magnon shelter in Les Eyzies is more than a museum! It is also an excavation area, where Cro-Magnon was discovered in 1868, one of our ancestors Homo Sapiens from the Upper Paleolithic (45,000 to 12,000 BC); Visit this place with modern museography, fun and using new technologies to plunge us into the past.
  

• The Museum of War in the Middle Ages in Castelnaud: in the castle of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, admire this exhibition devoted to war in the Middle Ages. We see armor, attack and defensive objects, more sophisticated machines as well. Included in the visit of the Castle.
  

• The Museum of the Rue du Temps qui Passe, in Allas-les-Mines: It's a pearl! A gigantic hangar, where several stalls are reconstituted, like a mini town, with hundreds and hundreds of period objects patiently collected and pampered by Michel Boom and his daughter Christelle. We see cars, other mechanical devices, but also all kinds of objects belonging to all the trades that we found in the shopping streets from 19860 to 1950.
  

• The National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies: At the heart of the Valley of Man, it is a pivotal museum that you must absolutely visit if you are doing a prehistoric immersion in the Vézère Valley; On the cliff side, it is already remarkable for the place that hosts it, but you will especially be captivated by the collections of prehistoric objects, illustrated by films. To be reserved for an audience over 7 or 8 years old.
  

• The Gallo-Roman Museum of Petit Bersac: Right in the north of the department, you are on an ancient Gallo-Roman site which was in the past an important traffic and communication route. We discover interesting archaeological furniture. Visits take place in summer and the rest of the time by appointment.
  

• Museum of mineralogy and paleontology in Le Bugue: Confidential, but do not pass by without stopping. Fans of stones and fossils will be delighted to meet this enthusiast, who knows how to welcome children and explain to everyone the richness of the collections present.

• Bastideum in Monpazier: Monpazier is one of the most beautiful and best preserved bastides in the region. A real school case, with its very parallel streets, drawn from a point near the church and not far from an arcaded square with a chestnut market hall. The Bastideum is a living museum, in a beautiful building, to understand the history of the bastides and life in this type of city, in the Middle Ages.
  

Museum of the Rue du Temps qui Passe

The Museums of Art and Men

• The Museum of Art and Archeology of Périgord (MAAP) in Périgueux: Collections to discover in this unique place, which is the oldest museum in the department, created in 1835 ! Archeology, fine arts and ethnography are revealed in a fun way, with a game booklet for the youngest and activities during the holidays. 
• The Fernand Desmoulin Museum in Brantôme. Come and discover the paintings and engravings of this artist, contemporary of Emile Zola and Victor Hugo. This visit is included in the very interesting discovery of the troglodyte shelters of Brantôme. 
• The Napoleon Museum of the Pommerie in Cendrieu : Enter this family home to see you present, words of a descendant of the Bonaparte family, objects, paintings and sculptures. Visits by reservation.
  
• The Costume and Crafts Museum in the 19th century (fr), in Tocane-Saint-Apre : Created in 1997, it houses a very fine collection of clothes, precious and well-enhanced fabrics, from a private collection.
  
• The Costi Museum in Bergerac : come and discover the sculpted works of Constantin Papachristopoulos (Costi). About sixty portraits sculpted in plaster or bronze, which can be discovered during a free visit.
  

Museums on the past of Périgord

• The Prehistoric Shelters of Laugerie Basse: Come and visit a real rock shelter which has many surprises in store for you thanks in particular to an astonishing stratigraphic section, carried out on this famous excavation site, to learn more about the geology and appropriation of places by our ancestors. Interactive museography via a tablet and interpretation panels.

• The Military Museum of Périgord, in Périgueux. The Dordogne seems to be a small, quiet department, but the Périgourdins have also gone on the countryside and here are the memories they brought back. More than 12,000 objects that bring the past to life, that allow us not to forget past wars, from the Middle Ages to today. A recognized public utility museum. 

• Vesunna, the Gallo-Roman museum site of Périgueux. If you knew all that is hidden under this design canopy, made by Jean Nouvel! It is an incredible vestige of the Gallo-Roman past of the city of Périgueux. A domus (a luxury villa) with a superb collection of antique objects and an educational thematic course suitable for all. A museum as beautiful as it is interesting.
  

• André Voulgre Museum in Mussidan. Enter this house with its beautiful wooded park of 2ha, to discover a beautiful collection of objects illustrating the Périgordine society over the past 200 years. The visit is free, with a games booklet for children. 

• The Tobacco Museum in Bergerac: Tobacco makes you think of cigarettes, but in Périgord it was above all a very important and food crop, as evidenced by the large number of tobacco dryers which are today part of the architectural heritage of our campaign. Far from praising tobacco, it is an observation museum on a product consumed since the dawn of time, born in America.
  

• The Musée du Vin et de la Batelerie is a municipal museum in Bergerac, which traces the adventure of two products that are much more closely related than it seems: You will see archives and photos to understand the evolution of the city, which was a large trading port with the gabarriers who transported to Bordeaux and elsewhere, the product of the vines of the Dordogne.
  

• Museum of the Kings of Araucania and Patagonia in Tourtoirac: Located behind the church, it is a museum of history on a man, who marked the spirits in South America, where he stood up for the rights of the Indian tribes, at a time when this type of engagement was unusual to say the least. An unusual adventure, on an exceptional man!
  

• La Maison du Patrimoine de Terrasson: To find out more about this city, straddling the culture of Périgord and that of the nearby Corrèze, come and visit this interpretation center. Regular temporary exhibitions to discover during your visit.
  

The Vesunna Museum in Périgueux

Gourmet museums and local products

• The Ecomusée de la Noix, in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle. It is a gourmet place where you will learn a lot about this little fruit, which has been present for thousands of years in Périgord. The Walnut was the basis of the diet of our ancestors, it represented a significant source of good trace elements. This pretty museum allows you to understand the importance of the walnut through time in Périgord. You can also walk in the fields of walnut trees and see the old-fashioned design, with stone grindstone, of roasted walnut oil. Taste, it's exquisite...
  

• The Ecomusée de la Truffe in Sorges tells you all about the pleasures of this fragrant mushroom with a powerful aroma... So coveted at the feet of mycorrhizal trees from December, the Périgord black truffle is a delight, easy to accommodate. To learn more about this black gold, this ecomuseum is perfect!
  

• La Maison de la Châtaigne in Villefranche-du-Périgord : not far from the border with Lot-et-Garonne, come and learn more about the chestnut: its history, the different varieties, its cultivation, its collection and its culinary use. The chestnut was in the past, a very important food source in the countryside, this museum does it honor.
  

• The Cognac and Wine Museum in Saint-Aulaye will reveal the mysteries of the creation of Cognac to you. You will discover an 18th century still and all the secrets of the distillation of brandy, until aging in oak barrels, to give it its amber color and its inimitable taste. Remember that Périgord is a neighbor of Charente, where Cognac comes from...
  

• Le Quai Cyrano: Visit this unique place, half Tourist Office, half House of Wines, to learn more about the Bergerac Duras vineyard, do tastings and understand the vines and wine in our region.
  

• Bovetti Chocolate Museum in Terrasson: an absolutely delicious museum! Discover the know-how of a Dordogne artisan chocolatier, chocolate is a fragile and capricious product, which requires a great experience to work with talent! Come and learn with the family, it's an experience that the youngest will appreciate... You will understand everything about the origin of cocoa, its transformation into chocolate, the different types of chocolates and finally, how to mold it, to make magnificent creations greedy.
  

Villefranche-du-Périgord, the homeland of Chestnut in Périgord !

Museums to discover know-how

• The Coutellerie Nontronnaise in Nontron is a place for lovers of beautiful blades. The Nontron Knife comes from ancestral know-how, it is the oldest knife in France! Entirely made by hand, it is a beautiful object to discover and why not to afford?
  

• The lime factories of Saint Astier: Visits only take place in summer, but they are fascinating, information from the Tourist Office. You will discover by car and on foot the installations for the production of hydraulic lime, used in construction as a binder to make mortar. 

• The Moulin de la Rouzique in Couze-et-Saint-Front, is a fantastic place that appeals to those who love crafts and creative hobbies. In this real mill, you will be retraced the history of paper pulp, a product that everyone knows and uses on a daily basis, but what do we know about the creation of a sheet of paper? Come and operate the paddle wheel, understand its mechanism and learn more about papermaking from the 15th century to the present day. Frequent entertainment for children during the holidays. 

• La Filature de Belvès is an ecomuseum dedicated to another industrial heritage of Périgord: wool. Come frame and spin the wool! You will be able to see all the machines and techniques used to go from sheep's wool to balls for knitting and directly to sweaters, scarves, blankets... Wool is not only knitted, it is also felted and it is an exciting technique to discover! An escape game will appeal to children as well as entertainment during school holidays.
  

• Daglan Dry Stone House: In the village, it is a place created by an association, wishing to promote the small heritage made up of dry stone huts in the town and its surroundings. Site visits, explanations to understand this type of construction, its implementation and its uses.
  

• The Papeterie de Vaux or the Ecomusée de l'Auvézère: Understand papermaking, starting with pulp, through the entire production chain. It is the history of machines, but also of workers and their daily lives, from the middle of the 19th century. Open from 1 May to 1 Internships and confections in workshops to do on site. 

• Les forges de Savignac: Pedestrian route with a path to discover these places which are as if stopped, frozen in time. A set which dates from the beginning of the 16th century, the forges produced cast iron and iron.
  

The Belvès spinning mill

Between tourist site and museum

• Les Cabanes du Breuil in Saint-André d'Allas: it is a magical site for lovers of beautiful stones and the art of living in Périgord. Come for a walk to discover these rural dry stone settlements known as the bories. With a lauze roof and a very beautiful architectural unity of the whole, it is a real trip back in time. 

• Bournat Park in Bugue: This park halfway between the theme park and the museum is a real reservoir of emotions from the last century! You can see old rides and lots of old trades stalls, dating from the early twentieth century. Open only in summer.
  

• The Château des Milandes is the home of Joséphine Baker, she lived in this very pretty castle with a breathtaking view of the valley, with the children of her rainbow tribe. Today, the castle is a museum dedicated to the life of this courageous and genuine, generous magazine leader, many of whom are unaware that she was also a great resistance fighter during the war. The visit continues in the gardens with aviaries and a beautiful park, host to a magnificent spectacle of raptors.

Unclassifiable!

Bisart in Coux-et-Bigaroque: A place that is above all a restaurant and a venue for events and festivals, but it is also an extraordinary museum on the Beatles (yes, yes, the group!) And on the comics. It is the collection of a lifetime, of an enthusiast who offers a visit to his impressive treasure, over more than 200 m2 carefully arranged and classified. He will tell you everything. Call before going there and be sure to eat there, it's very good!

You have all the cards in hand to visit the Perigord museums. To learn more about local uses and customs, to understand the industries that have developed the economy of the Dordogne, to find out what makes our territory so attractive... Museums are no longer the elitist, dusty and frozen places that they could sometimes be in the past. They come alive, they are held by passionate people who know how to convey their love for their subject! Come and visit the museums of the Dordogne!

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Think you forgot a museum? Want us to add some to the list? Contact Nathalie, who will be happy to help you: nathalie@negocom-atlantique.com