Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Quentovic Museum, founded in 1967 in Etaples (Pas-de-Calais), takes its name from the former Quentovic society, evoking the Merovingian and Carolingian port that made the city prosperous between the 6th and 10th centuries. First managed by an association (Société Quentovic), then by a mixed union, it is now a municipal museum classified as Museum of France. Its collections come from local archaeological excavations since 1965, donations of inhabitants, and incidental discoveries. The museum is currently closed for old age, but its animations continue.

The museum occupies two 17th century private hotels, located 8 Place du Général-de-Gaulle: Hotel Oudart Ohier (1657), built by this mayor of Etaples and receiver of the Abbey of Longvilliers, and Hotel Dauphin d'Halinghen (1695), owned by an anobli lawyer in 1761. The facades still bear the initials of the owners (masonry anchors). These buildings, former hotels in Porc-Epic and Grand-Pèlerin, housed five thematic rooms before the closure, mixing archaeology, geology, painting (Étaples school), and military history (World War I).

The museum's collections cover 540 million years of local history, from paleontological fossils to testimonies of life during the Great War. Among his assets are the paintings of the colony of painters of Etaples (1870-1914), such as William Lee Hankey or Henri Le Sidaner, as well as old photographs (Souquet and Caron fonds, 1850-1960). The museum also highlights Quentovic, Merovingian emporium, then major Carolingian on the estuary of the Canche, and the British military camp of 1914-1918.

The Quentovic Museum is part of the Heritage and Museums network in the Pays du Montreuillois (2P2M), and works with the cities of Touquet-Paris-Plage, Montreuil and Berck. Its future could be played in the Corderie, an old factory of the 1920s, where a regrouped museum pole is envisaged. In the meantime, Etaples offers two other museums: the Marine Museum and Maréis, dedicated to fishing.

The Quentovic Museum illustrates the historical richness of Etaples, marked by its ancient port, its strategic role during conflicts, and its attractiveness for artists at the turn of the 20th century. Its current closure, due to the outdated location, does not erase its importance for the conservation of local heritage, from prehistoric to modern times.

External links