Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée du Vieux Beaucaire, founded in 1927 at 27 rue Barbès, brought together paleontological, archaeological and local history collections managed by the Beaucaire Museum Committee. In the same year, a lapidary museum was created to exhibit pre-Roman, Gallo-Roman and historical inscriptions and sculptures, 28 of which were classified as historical monuments. These objects were preserved in the École de la Préfecture or the Chapel Saint-Pierre, while a temporary exhibition room, located in the Chapel Notre-Dame-de-Vie, presented the work of the Société d'Histoire et d'Archeologie de Beaucaire (SHAB).

In 1979, the municipality of Beaucaire created a controlled municipal museum in a former convent located within the medieval castle, centralizing local collections. The latter, previously dispersed, were officially donated to the City on May 18, 1979 and transferred to the present museum from 1983. The museum was renamed the Auguste Jacquet Museum in 1991 in tribute to the last president of the Museum Committee. Its collections come mainly from two local associations: the Old Beaucaire Museum Committee (1927) and the SHAB (1962), enriched by subsequent donations and acquisitions.

The collections include major archaeological remains, such as protected ancient altars, sarcophagi and burial cippes, as well as discoveries from ancient necropolises along the Domitian Way. Notable exhibits include gallo-grecque inscriptions, graffiti, and remains of a mausoleum of the early years B.C.E. The museum also preserves objects related to the Fair of Beaucaire, an event of European scale in the 17th and 18th centuries, with a collection of old posters and prints. The collection of art and popular traditions, including beaucairoise hats, textiles and portraits of the "Benefactors of the Hospices", completes this collection.

The excavations and prospecting carried out since 1981 by the museum or the DRAC have enriched the collections with furniture from the late Bronze Age, ancient and medieval ceramics, as well as 15th century sculptures. Among the masterpieces exhibited are works by Léo Lelée, an 18th-century Masonic apron, and a polychrome wooden statue of Saint Nicholas. The museum partially occupies a convent of the mid-19th century Augustines, thus incorporating a remarkable architectural heritage into its cultural vocation.

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