Inauguration of City Hall 1864 (≈ 1864)
Today's museum building, designed by Auguste Martin.
1914
Launch of the Ciotaden Museum
Launch of the Ciotaden Museum 1914 (≈ 1914)
First publication by Albert Ritt on local history.
1941
Creation of the A.V.L.C.
Creation of the A.V.L.C. 1941 (≈ 1941)
Association *Les Amis du Vieux La Ciotat* founded.
juin 1941
First temporary exposure
First temporary exposure juin 1941 (≈ 1941)
Success leading to a permanent exhibition.
1942
Installation at the Commerce Hotel
Installation at the Commerce Hotel 1942 (≈ 1942)
First official room of the museum.
1943-1944
Closure by occupation troops
Closure by occupation troops 1943-1944 (≈ 1944)
Museum driven from its premises.
1946
Reopening rue des Poilus
Reopening rue des Poilus 1946 (≈ 1946)
New site in a 17th century building.
1992
Installation in the old town hall
Installation in the old town hall 1992 (≈ 1992)
Current building, Napoleon III style building.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Albert Ritt - Project Initiator
Author of *The Ciotaden Museum* in 1914.
Monsieur Bonnafé - Founder of the AVL.
Impulse the creation of the association in 1941.
Auguste Martin - Departmental architect
Designed the former town hall in 1864.
Origin and history
The Ciotaden Museum originated in 1914, when Albert Ritt launched The Ciotaden Museum, a publication collecting the first written and iconographic elements of the local history of La Ciotat. This initiative marks the beginning of a desire to preserve the Ciotadenne memory, long before the formal creation of the museum.
In 1941, under the leadership of Mr Bonnafé, the Association Les Amis du Vieux La Ciotat (A.V.L.C.) was founded. Thanks to donations and loans, a first temporary exhibition was organized in June 1941, before becoming permanent. A library was set up, and the museum settled in 1942 on the first floor of the Commerce Hotel before being expelled by the occupation troops in 1943-44.
The museum reopened in 1946 at 51 rue des Poilus, in a building housing a school of hydrography in the seventeenth century. Its collections are gradually enriching, covering a variety of themes: prehistory (frogs of Terrevaine), Gallo-Roman archaeology, local history (vigne, olive, soap, maritime trades), and maritime life (fishing, shipbuilding, marine instruments). In 1992, he settled permanently in the former town hall of 1864, a Napoleon III-style building designed by architect Auguste Martin.
Its assets include reconstitutions (kitchen and 19th century chamber, restored mayor's office), objects related to the invention of the cinematographer, the petanque, or Maritime Messageries. The museum also preserves archives, photographs, ship models, and a range of oaths, unique testimonies of the Ciotaden heritage.
Labelled Museum of France, it covers a variety of thematic fields: ethnology, technical history, national archaeology, decorative arts (ceramic, textiles), and sciences (navigation, entomology). Its 26-metre belfry, topped by a wrought iron campanile, and its bas-reliefs celebrating industry and navigation recall the historic importance of La Ciotat, a maritime and industrial city.
