Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The municipal museum of the Capuchins occupies the former church of Notre-Dame-des-Anges, built between 1617 and 1630 in Coulommies under the impulse of Catherine de Gonzague, Princess of Clèves and Duchess of Longueville. The church, a sober style typical of the Capuchins, had a unique nave of 33 meters and an elevated choir. It was abandoned in 1790-1791 during the Revolution and then sold as national property. In the 19th century, after several changes of owners, the town of Coulommiers inherited it in 1915 and transformed it into a museum.

The shell cave, a baroque funeral chapel built around 1623-1624, was intended to house the burial of Catherine de Gonzague. Adorned with niches depicting its domains and columns once covered with shells, it also houses beheaded statues during the Revolution. Ranked a historic monument in 1930 with the church, it is one of the threatened sites identified by the Stéphane Bern mission in 2018 for the Heritage Lotto.

The museum's collections, initiated in 1834 with the creation of a municipal library, are enriched with donations, such as the celestial and terrestrial globes of Vincenzo Coronelli (1688 and 1693) or works related to local history. The museum, controlled by the Direction des musées de France since 1945, today traces the briard life of prehistory in the 20th century, including archaeological objects, paintings, and testimonies from ancient local industries such as tannery.

The church and its cave, symbols of the patronage of Catherine de Gonzague, also illustrate revolutionary upheavals and heritage conversions. The museum also preserves a photographic background of Yvette Troisproux and elements related to the castle of Coulommies, today in ruins, formerly owned by the princess. Its classification and partial restoration underline its importance in the religious and historical heritage of Seine-et-Marne.

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