Background information | Contact details | Boulogne Old Town
Boulogne Château-Musée

Entrance to the Château from within the old town walls.	Finest medieval castle in the North You are walking through the gates of Boulogne's medieval Château-Musée, crossing the high and narrow stone bridge across the moat, and looking up at its towering stone walls. The castle was built in the 13th century as the stronghold of the Count of Boulogne, who effectively ruled this area in the Middle Ages when the French kingdom was much weaker and fragmented. The Museum started elsewhere in 1825 with the Viscount de Barde's collection of antiques and memorabilia.
Restored as a Museum
The museum inside the Château	The medieval château has recently been restored and openedto house the Museum. You can visit it as a remarkably complete example of medieval military history, or come to explore the various themes of its outstanding collections. Different cultures Several prominent anthropologists from Boulogne contributed to a collection of ethnographic objects from many cultures around the world - ancient Egypt, Eskimos, ancient Greece, South Sea islands - and also French historical collections.
Eskimo masks
Boulogne-born anthropologist Alphonse Pinart travelled Canada and brought back Europe's largest collection of Eskimo masks.
Local Archaeology	Egypt & antique ceramics
		Boulogne has the largest French collection of antique Greek and Etruscan vases after the Louvre. The Egyptian collection is the work of a famous Egyptologist from Boulogne, Auguste Mariette, who
(left) Roman coin found locally (right) "Torso of a chaste Venus"	(left) Wooden Egyptian sarcophagus (mummy-case) of the 25th dynasty (right) Greek vase of 6th century BC showing Theseus & the Mynotaur

Medieval, ceramics & other collections
	The Boulogne-born scholar of the Middle Ages, Camille Enlart, contributed a significant collection of medieval and Renaissance objects including this 15th century terracotta figure (left). The Museum has built up a collection of 17th and 18th century ceramics, including this Sèvres porcelain cup and saucer (right).

Painters of the Côte d'Opale

Eugène Boudin: "La Canche à Etaples"

The museum's collections include examples of the many painters who have inspired by the special qualities of the light and scenery along this coastline. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Boulogne and coastal villages such as Etaples attracted "colonies" of artists: "La Canche à Etaples" (left) is the work of Eugène Boudin, who spent a lot of time in Etaples and Berck. For more, see: Painters of the Cote d'Opale

Contact details
Château-Musée from the air: from the Castle-Museum, you can walk around the Walls, explore the old town, or visit the Cathedral	...Send in a review.. Reviewer - It could be you... Location: Château Musée, rue de Bernet, 62200 BOULOGNE-SUR-MER Information/ reservations: Tel: 00 33 3 21 10 02 20 Fax: 00 33 3 21 10 02 23 Guided Tours: Tel: 00 33 3 21 80 56 78 Fax: 00 33 3 21 99 77 85
	Explore the rest of Boulogne's Old Town, see: Boulogne Cathedral, Walls and Old Town

Background Information Regional Art Galleries - and Art MENU Vauban and French fortifications Painters of the Cote d'Opale

Other places to visit: Dunkerque Museum of Fine Arts - ethnographic displays collected by seamen and explorers on voyages around the world.

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