The best museums Châteaux de la Loire

Located a few meters from the banks of the Maine River, this museum is composed of two very distinct places. On the one hand, the Saint-Jean Hospital, in its magnificent 12th century room, houses Le Chant du monde, a masterpiece by Jean Lurçat. These ten panels, 80 metres long, are inspired by the famous tapestry of the Apocalypse by John of Bruges. The part known as the former orphanage dates from the 17th century and houses some sixty works exhibited chronologically, mixing temporary works and the museum's own collection (Jean Lurçat, Josep Grau-Garriga and Thomas Gleb).

Founded in 1801, the Beaux-Arts are housed in several buildings in the historic centre, including a magnificent 15th-century town house, the Logis Barrault, in the flamboyant Gothic style. Covering 3,000 m², the museum has two sections: one devoted to sculpture and painting (particularly primitive and classical), the other to the history of Angers (objects from archaeological excavations). It also includes a graphic arts room and a garden decorated with statues which, in the 20th century, replaced the orchard where the famous Doyenné du Comice pear was invented.

It does not invent! The museum recounts 130 years of artisanal and industrial history dedicated to the manufacture of this essential accessory that revolutionized the choletaise industry. He occupies an old factory and bears witness to a concept that has hit: install factories in the countryside! From the factory to the museum, there was only one step, which he invites you to pass in turn and you will not regret it. Videos and demonstrations organized the visit where unusual unusual models, tools and machines are available.

The address is worth a little detour. But you need to book and be in a group to visit this museum. Created in 1954 by the village priest, Father Moreau, the People's education association concerned was very soon interested in amateur theatre. Thanks to the popular enthusiasm she aroused around her, she became a very large hiring of costumes, open to all troops, first of all, and then everywhere, really everywhere. It must be said that it has an impressive collection: 13 000 costumes ranging from antiquity to day and 600 available decor. Costumes of soldiers, Roman centurions, musketeers, monks, French Cancan dancers, Middle Ages dresses, Empire, or corbeille like those of Marie-Antoinette: everything is there. The visit ends with the permanent exhibition on the genesis of the theatre which also offers a beautiful collection of masks of the commedia dell'arte.

In the birthplace of Joachim du Birthplace, pushing the doors of this charming th-century turret, invites to open the intimate doors of the works of the poet and prolific current of the Pléiade. «I like the stay of my ancestors/What Roman palaces the bold front…» who recited this vibrant tribute to the loved village? Several appointments on calligraphy address the theme: when writing becomes an art.

This original museum, dedicated to printing and its history will delight children and adults. This museum is run by Monsieur Muriel Méchin, printer craftsman who likes to discover the art of the typography. Monsieur Méchin will reveal the secrets of paper and can carry out many impressions. Discover this estate of paper and writing, come to watch the large newspapers with pebbles and to strike, newspaper Minerva pedalo... The small workshop- museum of printing has a unique collection of creations. A recommended place worth the trip in family or simply if you are curious!

This beautiful Renaissance building is awarded to the architect Jacques Androuet du Hoop. It was built in 1548 for Philippe Cabu, a lawyer at the Châtelet. Discreet, unknown to the Orléanais, it still houses the Gallo-Roman bronze treasure found in the bed of the Loire in Neuvy-en-Sullias. It is a set of Gallic and Gallo-Roman sculptures known to specialists, but finally far less from the local point of view. The objects, of all beauty, reveal an extremely modern style of Bohemian art. The rest of the collection relates to the city's decorative arts and archaeology: medieval history, Renaissance sculpture, crafts and factories, ceramics. A room is dedicated to the port of Orléans, another to Joan of Arc under Redeployment, one, finally, to the architectural heritage of Orléans through the watercolours of the th century Charles Thought.