The best specialized museums Rhônes-Alpes

The mine was dug in 1907 and began operations in 1919. It was the largest mining operation in the basin. The site, closed in 1973, was classified as a historical monument in 2011. Rediscover the route taken by these workers who started by going to the checkroom: the hanging room, then into the underground galleries by taking the elevator. This visit offers a glimpse of the danger and fear that these miners could feel because of the numerous blasts of firedamp.

Exceptional collections for a museum that should highlight an entire part of Lyon's and the world's heritage through more than 4,500 years of textile history. However, the Musée des Tissus is currently undergoing a complete renovation. Work that will not begin before 2024, if all goes well, and that will last at least 18 months, if all goes well... To be continued.

Housed in the rehabilitated buildings of the old convent of the Visitation (XVII), this huge museum is the only in the world dedicated to footwear. The extraordinary collection invites you to discover all the forms of footwear, from the most classic to the most extravagant, from the oldest to the most contemporary. This establishment in Romans is no coincidence, the town was the cradle of the shoe industry of romanaise luxury. Thus, we discover 4 000 years of history presented in the old cells of nuns. Ornaments and accessories adorned with symbolism, passion, art and sometimes even… precious stones. The oldest model presented shows 3 500 years of age: A sandal in Egypt papyrus. And among celebrities: shoes worn by the characters of the film the Titanic. Take two hours for this unavoidable visit and… good shoes!

The character is unique! If you visit its museum of the unusual, you will discover a cabinet of unlikely curiosities. As a bonus, you will learn everything about the life of the master of the house born in the mid-1920s in Montélimar, to a father... nougat maker. So far nothing original! Out of the nougat, Max became a painter and travelled, lived abroad, lived in Paris, met many famous and unfamous people and collected this collection that he now shares with the public. If as a painter, he has only one subject - the woman - as a collector he is eclectic! Nearly 10,000 eccentric pieces, inventoried in the Prévert style, are on display in about ten rooms: old pipes, gynaecological instruments, cigar rings, matchboxes, posters, bidets, personal objects that belonged to President Émile Loubet... The main curiosity is still the man, Max Manent, who accompanies your visit in his imagination and his past. The museum also houses the master's work and... his own coffin covered, like a crucifix, with a woman's body, arms crossed. The circle is complete. Some rooms should be closed to children.... Allow two hours for a visit.

La maison des forges is above all the story of passionate people who never gave up. Indeed, it took 10 years between the initial idea and the opening of this site. But in concrete terms, what can you find inside? Here, you will be able to learn more about the blacksmith's trade. You can discover the tools used by blacksmiths and enter an interactive workshop. Note that temporary exhibitions are also proposed.

Weird, did you say weird? In fact, this museum houses works of popular art. Brut art, naive art, marginal art, rural art. Founded in 1971 by Serge Tekielski, said Candide, a distant cousin of the Cheval Cheval, brocaner, passionate collector. In this beautiful typical house of Bas-Vivarais 200 atypical works, sculptures, paintings, drawings, religious objects, rural objects… A room entirely devoted to the works of Gérard Lattier, a contemporary painter born in 1937. Today his wife Madeleine continues to make us discover this collection.