What to do and see in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, France: The Best Art Museums

The museum of Fine Arts of Lyon is the largest French museum outside of Paris, in terms of the richness of its collections, and the importance of the bequests received at its creation, in the wake of the Revolution. The ongoing enrichment of the collection and its dynamic artistic program place the museum on the international art scene. The museum is located place des Terreaux, in the heart of the city center, in a former 17th century Benedictine abbey. Its cloister is now home to a quiet garden featuring sculptures by Rodin and Bourdelle, among others. The museum’s encyclopedic collections are exhibited in five sections and seventy galleries presenting artworks from all the major civilizations and artistic schools, from Antiquity to the present day. All year long, the museum offers its visitors an exceptional tour of 5 000 years of art history and organizes major temporary exhibitions, as well as cultural activities engaging all audiences.

The Museum of Civilization-Daniel Pouget offers an introduction to the cultures of the world through collections from Africa, America, Asia and Oceania. Located at the heart of the medieval district, the Museum also witnessed the religious, social and industrial history of the Forez.

The Museum of Valence is situated in the historic centre of old Valence adjoining the Cathedral of Saint Apollinaire, on the city's first terrace. It offers wide panoramic views of the Valence countryside, from Vercors to the mountains of Ardeche. Officially created in 1850, it has been housed since 1911 in the former Episcopal palace, a vast private mansion with a courtyard and private gardens, which retains many traces of its secular history: a 12th-century fortified Episcopal tower, an ogival gallery, 15th- and 17th-century painted ceilings, and more. Its rich collections of more than 20,000 works offer, in a reinvented itinerary, a wide panorama of the history of mankind and the arts, from regional prehistory to contemporary art. The Archaeology section retraces the history of civilisations occupying Drome and the mid-Rhone valley from modern times back to prehistory. The art section, which brings together paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts, places a special emphasis on the theme of landscape, from its reinterpretation by contemporary artists back to its "invention" in the 16th century as an independent genre.

Un musée qui fait chanter les objets. Initié en 2007 par 2 collectionneurs rhodaniens, le Musée de la Musique Mécanique d’Oingt (Val d'Oingt) vous accueille dans un espace de près de 200m². Nous vous proposons de découvrir l’ambiance musicale du XIXe siècle, à travers une collection exceptionnelle d’instruments de musique mécanique. Tous les instruments exposés fonctionnent : petits orgues, harmonium mécanique, orchestron, limonaires, accordéons, pianos (12), Pianola,… Entrée gratuite, participation libre dans une corbeille en fin de visite.

Knowing a country is knowing about its people. What was life like for the "Savoyards" at the beginning of the Century? The objetcs, tools, furniture, jewellery and costumes handed down through the generations have been collected.