Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Municipal Museum of Archaeology of Ligle was inaugurated in 1953 under the name Museum June 44, in the outbuildings of the castle of Ligle, spared by the bombings of 1944. It was the first "speaking museum" in France, offering a sound immersion in the Battle of Normandy through 13 reconstructed scenes, historical voices and a lively map of 36 m2. The appeal of 18 June 1940 and the liberation of 1944 are highlighted, with a focus on the decisive events of this period.

The space dedicated to the meteorite of Ligle commemorates a major scientific event: on 26 April 1803, an explosion sounded over the city, followed by a rain of metorical stones. The physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot, sent by the Minister of the Interior, demonstrated for the first time the alien origin of meteorites. The museum exhibits fragments lent by the National Museum of Natural History, accompanied by explanatory panels on this rare phenomenon.

The archaeological section presents objects bequeathed by local collectors, covering Prehistory in the Iron Age. These artifacts, from the gifts of Messrs Desloges and Lecoq, illustrate the human occupation of the region for millennia. The castle itself, rebuilt from 1690 on the foundations of an 11th century fortress, links the medieval history of the city to its modern heritage, marked by the destructions of 1944.

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