Places, museums, monuments

The Baron Gérard Museum has been located since 1900 in the oldest wing of the bishops' residence of Bayeux. It owes its name to the large legacy donated in 1898 by Henri-Alexandre Gérard (1818-1903), great art lover, deputé for the arrondissement and nephew of the painter François Gérard. The museum possesses an interesting collection of Neoclassical […]

This enormous fortress constructed in the 14th century by Louis d'Orléans, the brother of Charles VI, the Château de Pierrefonds, was besieged and then torn down by Louis XIII at the beginning of the 17th century. For almost two centuries the imposing ruins stood unattended – nearly unnoticed. It was not until the end of […]

Started by Prince Louis II and enlarged by Prince Rainier III, the Napoleonic collection of the Princely Palace of Monaco is exhibited in the southern wing of the building, on the ground floor. It is composed of one thousand various objects and documents and features a few exceptional items such as the flag of the […]

The magnificent ensemble of Val-de-Grâce is the architectural symbol of excellence in military medecine. With its army medical school and army medical museum containing archives and library, and with the new military hospital comprising 13 specialist clinics, it represents a complete centre of medical expertise. The church of Val-de-Grâce was commissioned by Anne of Austruia […]

Located in a former Anglican church, the Biarritz Historical Museum was set up in 1986 by the Association of Friends of Old Biarritz as a concrete expression of their intention to revive interest in the city's past. The porch houses a memorial to the English who fell in the Napoleonic wars, particularly in the battles which […]

Thomas Stibbert, originally from Norfolk (UK), emigrated to Italy after the fall of the First Empire and settled in Florence with his young Tuscan bride, Giulia Cafaggi. And it was their son, Frederick, who put together, and set up as a museum, the rich collection today known as the Museo Stibbert, dedicated to the history of […]

Founded in 1977 in the Galliera Palace, the Costume and Fashion Museum contains an exceptional collection of about 100,000 items: 30,000 costumes and 70,000 accessories. The museum displays male as well as female clothing. Amongst the women's garments there are some truly extraordinary items dating from the First Empire, notably: muslin dresses belonging to Josephine, […]

The palace in which every king of France since the Middle-Ages had lived was spared during the Revolution, but the furniture was either destroyed or sold. Napoleon had the palace both restored and refurbished, thus making it once again a residence fit for royal guests. Almost 600 rooms were transformed to accommodate the court, and […]

The Petit Malmaison (Little Malmaison) is a private and listed historicalmonument, commissioned in 1803 by the Empress Josephine, who desired to have a space on the Malmaison estate reserved for her passion, botany. Initially, she called on the landscape architect Jean-Marie Morel (1728-1810). But he was soon to be replaced by Jean Thomas Thibault(1757-1826) and […]

It was at the Military School in Brienne, in the Champagne region of France, that Napoleon Bonaparte spent part of his youth, from May 1779 to October 1784. Brienne had been chosen by Count de Saint-Germain, the Secretary of State for War, as one of the twelve preparatory schools for the main Military Academy in […]