La Cabano, reconstructed village of the first half of the XXth century brings back to life trades of the past. Thanks to scenes from everyday life, it allows the visitor to recollect his roots, his culture… Memories and emotions suddenly reappear…
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Departmental Mine Museum: A New Mine of Sensations!
Come and discover this new museum, rooted in its time with the use of new technologies for sound and lighting, and a more modern scenography to welcome visitors and immerse them in the daily life of miners. The museum, however, does not forsake its roots, maintaining its unique atmosphere and specific features.
With a new reception area, a new boutique space, a redesigned visitor experience, and renovated mine galleries, this is the must-visit museum!
Due to rehabilitation work, the Glass Museum will be closed to the public for several years. The goal is to revive the Domaine de la Verrerie by 2026.
In the meantime, the Nomadic Glass Museum offers an ‘off-site’ program of events to explore glass in a different way, in other locations.
Located in the heart of the Domaine de la Verrerie, in a former 18th-century Royal Glassworks, the Glass Museum is closed to the public for several years.
The buildings of this major heritage site require restructuring.
The Domaine de la Verrerie has existed for over 250 years.
In 1754, it covered 400 hectares and included numerous mining pits. Gabriel de Solages received permission from the King to build a glassworks there, becoming the first Royal Coal-Fired Glassworks in the Southwest of France. It operated until 1856.
The Sainte-Clotilde Glassworks followed nearby, next to the railway, from 1862 to 1931.
Although the Solages castle was destroyed in a fire in 1895, several 18th and 19th-century buildings remain today, including the ground floor of the former Royal Glassworks and the Orangerie, converted in the 1860s. Also present are the former castle’s outbuildings, a guardhouse, a chapel, and a 17-hectare park.
In the 1980s, the old Glassworks was transformed into a museum. For over 30 years, the Glass Museum showcased ancient objects and contemporary works, and beyond that, brought life to the Domaine through various events such as the Glassmakers’ Biennial or the workshop created in 2001 in the chapel to host glassblowers and their demonstrations.
Today, all the buildings require extensive renovation. Therefore, the Museum has closed its doors to the public. The teams from the Community of Municipalities are working on the site’s future and have completely redesigned the museum’s layout. The goal is to revive the Domaine de la Verrerie by 2026.
But a museum is more than just a place; it is also about collections. While the Domaine de la Verrerie is being reinvented, activities continue: the Nomadic Glass Museum offers an ‘off-site’ exhibition program to explore glass in other locations, while the Glassmakers’ Biennial, which has welcomed a loyal audience for 20 years, remains a reference in the field of fire arts and glass exhibitions.
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Push St Jacques chapel’s door and hold your breath : you will find Monestiés’ treasure here!
From 1774, this former hospital, on the way to Santiago de Compostela, houses a magnificent masterpiece, classified as historic monument, representing the three last scenes of the Passion of the Christ. This impressive set is composed of 20 polychrome limestone statues, commissioned by Louis d’Amboise in 1490.
Did you know that Louis Amboise, the statues’ main sponsor, knew also how to party? Discover how he organized in 1492 festivities in honour of the dauphin through 20 graphic panels illustrating a fest in the Middle Ages. (Exhibition accomplished by the departmental archives of Tarn)
Located in a host house from the XVth century, the museum holds spanish refugees Martine Véga and Francisco Bajen’s paintings. Discover these two artists’ work through a thematic exhibition, renewed every year.
On this year’s theme « games and hobbies », find out about two painters, two styles and two univers, at once naive and colourful.
This lively space is composed of books written by Jean Jaurès, others on the well-known orator (inherited from one of August Canac’s descendant, friend and fellow traveller of Jean Jaurès at the municipality), of recorded soundtracks made of reading texts written by Jean Jaurès himself, of pictures…
