Places, museums, monuments : 26
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Place, museum or monument / 2nd Republic / 2nd Empire, VariaMuseum of the Franco-Prussian War and the Annexation at Gravelotte
In April 2014, the Museum of the Franco-Prussian War and the Annexation was inaugurated in Gravelotte, a town famous for the battle of Saint-Privat (known as the battle of Gravelotte in Germany) that took place there on 18 August 1870. The museum is not just a linear account of the conflict that broke out between France […]
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Place, museum or monument / 2nd Republic / 2nd EmpireMusée de la Guerre de 1870 et de l’Annexion [Museum of the Franco-Prussian War]
A history museum unique in Europe This museum, which opened in 2014, is the only one entirely devoted to the history of the Franco-Prussian War [la Guerre de 1870] and the annexation of Alsace and part of Lorraine by the German Empire (1871-1918). It takes a fresh look at the issues raised by this conflict […]
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Place, museum or monumentChâteau de Bessonies
History and locationBessonies, a small commune in the Lot département, sits at an altitude of 580 metres above sea level. The huge Château de Bessonies was built in the 16th century and features two round towers that flank the front facade. It is particularly famous for being the location of Maréchal Ney's arrest on 3 […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée Napoléon de la Pommerie
History Tucked away in the small commune of Cendrieux, in the heart of the Périgord region, and housed in a modest château belonging to the Witt family, is the Musée Napoléon de la Pommerie. The property was acquired towards the end of the 1940s by Princess Marie-Clotilde Napoléon, the great grand-daughter of Jerome, King of […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée Murat (Labastide-Murat, Lot)Given to the Lot department by the descendants of the comtes Murat (the branch derived from the Marshal's brother), the house in which that proud cavalier, but also 'grand amiral', grand-duc de Berg and King of Naples was born, is open to the public, offering…
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Place, museum or monumentNational Museum of the Bonaparte Residence in Corsica
In 1764, Charles-Marie Bonaparte wed the young Letizia Ramolino and settled with her in the Bonaparte family residence. Napoleon was born there on August 15, 1769, and Lucien, Louis, Jerome, Elisa, Pauline and Caroline followed. After three years spent on the continent from 1793 to 1796 due to the family's allegiance with the French Republic, […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée de l’Empéri
The Musée de l'Empéri was started by two passionate collectors, Raoul and Jean Brunon, and contains a total of almost 10,000 objects, documents and books. The history of the French army from 1700 to 1918 is recounted thanks to large-scale historical reconstructions involving 130 life-size infantrymen and cavalrymen. Originally located in the Brunons' family home […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée national du château de Compiègne – the historic apartments
Although the royal château at Compiègne had been rebuilt by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in the period between 1755 and 1788, Napoleon I nevertheless thought the residence not sufficiently imperial, and so in 1807 he ordered further architectural work. The architect Berthault rearranged the interior, the wel-known artists Girodet, Dubois and Redouté were responsible for the painted […]
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Place, museum or monumentDomaine de la Pagerie
In 1763, in a truly beautiful spot overlooking the Caribbean Sea, was born a child with a most extraordinary future ahead of her: for this little girl was none other than Marie-Joseph-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, who was to become Josephine, Empress of the French.Josephine spent the first sixteen years of her life in the […]
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Place, museum or monumentMusée du Second Empire – Musée de l’Impératrice – Compiègne
Alongside the Tuileries, Saint-Cloud and Fontainebleau, Compiègne was one of the palaces where the imperial couple and the court regularly resided. Indeed it was one of the preferred houses because of the freer lifestyle which reigned, in that respect for etiquette weighed less heavily there. Compiègne also played a key role in lives of the […]