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Origin and history

The Lapidary Museum Saint-Nicolas was founded on 10 August 1861 in Autun, in the former hospital Saint-Nicolas-Saint-Éloi-en-Marchaux, dated at least the eleventh century. This place, originally dedicated to the needy and disused in 1668, today preserves only its chapel. The museum exhibits elements of Gallo-Roman architecture of Augustostodunum (Ancient Autun), such as capitals, fragments of aqueduct, cornices, and 130 funeral steles from the 1st to the 4th century. A few medieval pieces, such as sarcophagus and statues, complete the collections.

The origin of the museum dates back to 1811, when Mayor George established an antiques cabinet at the College of Autun, fed by private donations. Transferred in 1828 to the infirmary of the college, then in 1835 to the new town hall, the museum was entrusted in 1836 to the Educational Society (local learned society) to rationalize the collections. In the absence of space, the objects were scattered between the sub-prefecture, a house near the Roman theatre (1845), the gendarmerie, and the former convent of Cordeliers (1858-1860).

In 1860, Jacques Gabriel Bulliot proposed the current location. A subscription, supported by the Educational Society and the Schneider family, allows the work. The museum officially opened on August 10, 1861. In 1876, a three-gallery cloister and an interior garden were set up in the chapel. The last renovations date back to the 2000s, when a guard was hired. The garden, inspired by romanticism, hosts activities during the Night of Museums.

The collections, enriched by the Educational Society from 1836 to 1954, come from donations and archaeological excavations. They cover elements ranging from antiquity to the 19th century, with Gallo-Roman dominance. The chapel and cloister, classified, add a heritage interest to the site, labeled Musée de France.

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