Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The European Museum of Campanar Art was inaugurated on 16 December 1994 in L'Isle-Jourdain (Gers), under the patronage of President Francis Mitterrand and with the blessing of Pope John Paul II. This project, which was created in the 1980s by an associative initiative, took shape between 1990 and 1994. The museum is housed in a grained hall of the early 19th century, typical of the Gascon architecture of brick and wood, located in the heart of the city. Its opening marked the creation of an area dedicated to the preservation and valorisation of European campanary heritage.

The museum houses more than a thousand objects related to bells, carillons and sound instruments, including the famous Carillon de la Bastille, listed as a historical monument. This carillon, miraculously saved after the capture of the Bastille in 1789, was acquired by the State in 1989. The collections cover archaeological pieces from 2 to 3 millennia old, bells from the West and the East, sonnailles for livestock, monumental functional clocks (including one in Jacquemarts from the 15th to the 16th centuries), as well as objects from the Paccard foundry in Annecy. A section is devoted to bells requisitioned during the French Revolution and World Wars, illustrating their transformation into coins or cannons.

The museum is structured around six thematic areas: foundry (tools, moulds, video castings), monumental watchmaking (clocks in working order), bells as vectors of music and messages (claviers, angelic, liturgical bells), the cultural identity of bells (from Antiquity to the Americas), their connection with cattle (sounds, grelots, decorated necklaces), and their role in historical conflicts. A temporary auditorium and exhibition space complete the visit. The ensemble highlights craftsmanship, popular traditions and the sound impact of bells on everyday landscapes for centuries.

The building itself, an early 19th century grain hall, is a remarkable architectural heritage. Its brick and wood structure, characteristic of Gascogne, now houses a label Museum of France. The museum also benefits from an exceptional repository of subrejougs (embracing yokes), local symbols of the Sava Valley and Midi-Pyrénées. These collections, which are the result of decades of research and donations, make it a reference point for the study of campanary art in Europe.

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