Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Museum of Rural and Forestry Life is located in Saint-Michel, in the department of Aisne (Hautes-de-France), in the heart of the Thiérache, a natural region marked by its bocage and forests. This land, shaped by a rainy climate and an impermeable basement, has seen its landscapes evolve from woods to pastures after centuries of clearing. State forests, such as those of Saint-Gobain or Villers-Cotterêts, come from ancient royal estates confiscated in the 19th century or from abbeys seized during the Revolution, including that of Saint-Michel.

The museum project was led by the joint trade union for the development of the Thierache, based on investigations by the National Museum of Folk Arts and Traditions and local contacts. It occupies the former outbuildings of the Abbey of Saint-Michel, transformed into a farm in the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum illustrates the region's emblematic activities: logging, milk processing and basketry, while preserving a typical brick building of the time.

Ranked as Musée de France, this place of identity values collections related to agriculture and the forest, reflecting the economic and social history of Haute-Picardie. His address, 34 boulevard Savart in Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache, places the museum in a historical setting where there is a mixture of abbatial heritage and rural traditions, with geographical precision deemed fair (note 5/10).

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