Musée de Fontenay-le-Comte

The Fontenay-le-Comte Museum is currently closed. Modernisation work in progress.

Founded in 1875, the museum was last modernised and enlarged in the 1980s. Today's tour focuses on the cultural and natural heritage of the Sud-Vendée and the history of the town during the Renaissance.

In order to modernise the museum, with the aim of revitalising the town centre as part of the "Action Cœur de ville" programme, and to position the facility as a vector of influence and tourist attraction for the region, the town has decided to renovate it in 2020.

Following the adoption of the Scientific and Cultural Project (SCP) by the City Council on 13 April 2021, the project was validated by the DRAC on 10 September 2021. The SCP asserts a new identity, that of a museum of art and history.

The new tour route will focus on "the exchange and circulation of people, goods and ideas since prehistoric times", with a renewed emphasis on the notion of "humanism, present since the Renaissance with the Cenacles, then in the 19th century with historians, archaeologists and collectors".

Launch of the collections project:
The project is now entering a more operational phase with the launch of the collections project, which is scheduled to last a year.

The project has a number of objectives:
1) To make as accurate an inventory as possible of the 7,000 objects, in order to gain a better scientific understanding of them and to assess their state of conservation.
2) To provide a detailed description of each object, including its size, weight and material. prepare the future museum itinerary to enable the museographer and scenographer to work.
3) Prepare for the move of the collections by placing them in secure crates so that the building is free for the works phase.

The Museum will be open to the public on a one-off basis, subject to prior booking, as part of a programme of events, the aim being to raise awareness of the work being done to manage the collections.

The Museum will therefore no longer be open to the public.

For further information, please contact the Museum reception on 02 51 53 40 04.

CALL FOR DONATIONS 1939-1945

As part of its major renovation project, the Musée de la Ville de Fontenay-le-Comte is preparing to include a Memorial to the Resistance and Deportation in the Vendée. This is an opportunity for the museum to launch a major collection of objects, photographs and documents that bear witness to the Second World War.

If you or members of your family own such objects/documents, and would like them to help us learn more about the history of our region during the Second World War, or to ensure that they are preserved and promoted at the Memorial to the Resistance and Deportation, we invite you to visit the website www.fontenay-le-comte.fr or to contact the Fontenay-le-Comte museum directly.