MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAS

Established under the Terror in the former Jacobin convent, Auch's museum is one of the oldest in France. Spread over three levels, it houses over 20,000 objects. The Musée des Amériques is the second largest collection of Pre-Columbian art after the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris. The collection began with the interest of Guillaume Pujols, an Auscitain exiled in South America with a passion for archaeology. He brought back around a hundred pieces from his travels. When he became curator of the Musée d'Auch in 1911, he decided to exhibit them to the public. He bequeathed his magnificent pre-Hispanic collections from Peru and Mexico, as well as Latin American sacred art, to the museum. Don't miss the Messe de Saint-Grégoire, a painting made with feathers in Mexico in 1539.

The museum's second collection features works from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Works from Ancient Egypt come from a bequest by Charles Palanque. Other highlights include a monumental statue of the emperor Trajan and a superb ^{eleventh-century} carved ivory olifant. The museum does not forget local history, with the arts and popular traditions of Gascony, nor the fine arts. The museum's core collection comes from works collected from government buildings and the homes of emigrants from the Gers. But perhaps the most captivating canvases are those by Italian painter Mario Cavaglieri, who captured the soul and light of the region.