Les Cordeliers - Museum of Art and History

Museum Overview

The Museum of Art and History, housed in the former Cordeliers Convent since June 2016, is part of a desire to promote the historic heart and heritage collections of the city.

The Tarascon Museum of Art and History offers new exhibitions throughout the year on themes ranging from History to contemporary creation, fashion, painting and photography. This museum is a place where the pride of being Tarascon is expressed throughout the year. A place of exchange, of sharing everything that makes the urban, rural, festive, historical and Mediterranean identity of our beautiful Provençal city.
Its aim is to promote the encounter between heritage and contemporary creation. It includes a permanent exhibition space with five rooms dedicated to the emblematic figures of the city: Tarasque, Saint Martha and Tartarin, as well as a temporary exhibition space in the galleries of the former Cordeliers cloister.
The Cloître des Cordeliers, made up of three galleries decorated with ribbed vaults, provides a remarkable setting for the temporary exhibitions of the art and history museum.
Built in the 1861th century, these galleries are part of the Franciscan monastery, also called Cordeliers. During the Revolution, the buildings were sold as National Property and shared between several owners. The City of Tarascon bought part of them in XNUMX to install a daycare center for young children, then a dispensary.
The Gallery of the Legendary Tarasque is a permanent exhibition that traces the history of the legendary creature that lived on the banks of the river and terrorized the inhabitants of the city. The Tarasque, an amphibious dragon, is said to have been tamed by Saint Martha. Discover all the secrets of this legend by browsing the Gallery from its origin to its inclusion in the inventory of oral and intangible cultural heritage in France in 2019 as a processional monster.
The gallery also gives pride of place to the Tarasque festivities and the associated ethnological heritage, between old postcards and century-old effigies!
From the Tartarin created by Alphonse Daudet to the Tartarin embodied today during the festivities, discover the Cabinet of Curiosities dedicated to the emblematic figure of Tarascon:
Tartarin of Tarascon! Tartarin dreams only of adventures. A great collector of weapons, the champion of cap shooting is a true bedroom hero! His admirers urge him relentlessly: Africa, the land of lions, is the obligatory destination for such a valiant hunter! Tartarin ends up embarking – forced and constrained – for Algeria, in the hope of flushing out the wild beast…

Pets allowed : no

Comfort and amenities

Spoken languages)

• French

Rates / opening