Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

In 1934, Abbé Amédée Lemozi, priest of Cabrerets and passionate about archaeology, founded a museum of prehistory from his personal collections. This project is supported by two patrons: Jean Lebaudy, owner of the Gontaud-Biron castle, where the museum was originally established, and Mademoiselle de Gouvion Saint-Cyr. The museum thus develops in a historical setting, in the heart of the village of Cabrerets, thanks to these collaborations.

In 1964, Jean Lebaudy sold the castle and offered the museum's collections to the municipality of Cabrerets, provided that a new building was built to display them. The commune respected this commitment, and in 1981 the museum opened its doors on the site of Pech Merle, close to the eponymous cave. It is then renamed Museum Amédée Lemozi and becomes a key place to discover the art and prehistoric tools of Quercy, especially those from the local excavations.

The museum is distinguished by its unique educational presentations, such as the reconstruction of a dolmen being searched or demonstrations of the manufacture of Magdalenian tools (harpons, bone needles). His collections also include furniture art objects from the Upper Paleolithic and ceremonial Neolithic dagger blades, making this place a reference for regional prehistory. Today, it is labeled Musée de France and remains inseparable from the cave of Pech-Merle, with which it forms a coherent cultural ensemble.

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