The Museum of Aquitaine
The Museum of Aquitaine was officially created in its current form in 1962 on the initiative of the museologist Georges Henri Rivière, who was responsible for the post-war reorganisation of French history, archaeology and ethnology museums. The Museum initially occupied the north wing of the Musée des Beaux-Arts building before being moved into Cours Pasteur, in the former premises of the Bordeaux Faculty of Sciences and Letters. The new museum opened its doors to the public in 1987.
The new museum enabled the amalgamation of a large number of collections and several museums previously scattered through the town, each with a complex individual story.
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The prestigious character of its collections has led to the Museum of Aquitaine becoming a heritage standard in France today. Its diverse collections, varying from regional archaeology and ethnology to non-European civilisations, also make it an encyclopaedic museum with an extremely wide range of temporary exhibitions.
In 2009, the renovation of the museum’s permanent spaces was undertaken, starting with the 18th century. These new rooms place great emphasis on the trans-Atlantic trade and slavery, in line with the new scientific and cultural plan that aims to establish the history of the relationships between Bordeaux and the rest of the world through time.
