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  2. Patrimoine
  3. 97300 Cayenne

  4. Franconie Building

Franconie Building

Franconie Building


    97300 Cayenne
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Immeuble Franconie
Crédit photo : Original téléversé par Didwin sur Wikipédia frança - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1824-1842
Construction of building
1885
Sale to the administration
15 octobre 1901
Opening of the local museum
1946
Become a departmental museum
8 mars 1986
Historical monument classification
2011
Label Maisons des Illustres
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Façades and roofs (Case AD 24): entry by order of 14 February 1986, as amended by order of 8 March 1986

Key figures

Alexandre Franconie - Philanthropist and collector Original owner, legatee of the library.
Gustave Franconie - Deputy and son of Alexander Sell the building to the administration in 1885.
Émile Merwart - Governor of Guyana (1901) Initiator of the museum after the Universal Exhibition.
Eugène Bassière - First curator of the museum Named in 1901 to manage collections.
Francis Lagrange (Flag) - Bagnard and painter Author of canvases on life in the bagne.
Père Yves Barbotin - Naturalist and collector Donor of 4,000 insect specimens.

Origin and history

The Franconie building, located in Cayenne, Guyana, was built between 1824 and 1842 by the Franconie family, installed in the region since the 18th century. This wood frame building and brick filling, typical of Creole houses, presents a U-shaped plan around an interior garden. It was listed as a historical monument in 1986 and also received the Maisons des Illustres label in 2011. Originally, it served as a family residence before being sold to the local government in 1885 by Gustave Franconie, son of Alexander Franconie, philanthropist and collector of Guyanan objects.

In 1901, Governor Émile Merwart inaugurated the local museum in the building, replacing a previous museum destroyed by the Cayenne fire in 1888. This project is inspired by the success of the French Guiana Pavilion at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris. The museum, renowned departmental museum Alexandre-Franconie in 1946, exhibits various collections: natural history (including 4,000 specimens of insects by Father Yves Barbotin), archaeology ( funerary urns of Aristé culture), and works such as paintings by Bagnard Francis Lagrange. The building also houses the Alexandre-Franconia library, legatee of the collections of the philanthropist.

The architecture of the building reflects the colonial adaptations: a raised base of 1.60 m in rubble and bricks, exterior staircases, and a roof initially in tiles, replaced by ribbed sheet. The museum expanded in 2003 with a new wing, while reserves and restoration workshops were moved to Remire-Montjoly in 2015. Today, the Franconie building remains a symbol of Guyana's heritage, mixing colonial history, science and local memory.

The project of Maison des cultures et des mémoires de Guiana, launched in 2015, plans to bring together several institutions (departmental museum, archives, museum of Guyana cultures) in the former Jean-Martial hospital. This future cultural hub, whose winning project was entrusted to Moreau Kusunoki, aims to centralize the conservation and enhancement of Guyana's heritage, while preserving the Franconie building as an iconic historic site.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum

Nearby establishments