Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Jacobin Museum of Auch, now named Museum of the Americas - Auch, founded in 1793 and settled in 1976 in the former Jacobin convent, founded in 1386. This convent, renovated in the 17th and 18th centuries, has a typical Dominican architecture, with a unique nave and a cloister rebuilt in 1643 by architects Jean and Pierre Castéra. The facade, adorned with a triangular pediment and Corinthian pilasters, gives access to a nave via a descending staircase. In 1793, the bell tower was demolished, and the building changed hands several times (Ursulines, diocesan missionaries) before being bought by the city in 1976 to install the museum.

The museum owes its reputation to its collection of pre-Columbian art, the second in France with more than 8,000 objects. This collection originated with Guillaume Pujos, a Gascon who left in Chile in 1879, bringing back a hundred pieces and bequeathing his collection to the city in 1921. Under the impetus of its successor, Henri Polge (1921-1978), the museum was enriched by donations from other institutions (museums of the Eyzies and d'Annecy in the 1950s) and individuals, such as Mrs Lions in 2006, bringing the collections to their present size. The museum, renovated in 2018-2019, also exhibits Egyptian, Gallo-Roman, medieval and Fine Arts works of the eighteenth century.

The ancient Jacobin convent, partially classified as a historical monument in 1976, combines architectural heritage and museum vocation. His French garden, evoking plants brought back from the Americas by the conquistadors, introduces visitors into the universe of collections. The thematic halls (Trésors du Peru, Andine Gallery) highlight pre-Columbian ceramics, textiles and goldsmiths, while the upper floors feature sections dedicated to Fine Arts, local rugby, and Gallo-Roman and medieval archaeology. The museum thus embodies a dialogue between European heritage and Amerindian cultures.

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