Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

In 1948, the department of Indre-et-Loire acquired La Devinière, a 15th-century building in Seuilly, near Chinon, considered the home of François Rabelais. That same year, the Association of Friends of Rabelais and La Devinière was founded to preserve this heritage. After three years of restoration of the house and its stone barn (17th century), the Rabelais museum opened in 1951, marking the beginning of its cultural and memorial vocation.

Between 1980 and 1990, the General Council of Indre-et-Loire extended the site by purchasing the adjacent buildings (houses of the farmer and the winemaker), which it renovated to enlarge the museum space. These acquisitions allow to enrich the collections and offer a more complete journey on the life of Rabelais and his time. In 2002, the museum received the label Musée de France, recognizing its heritage importance.

The 2000s saw an ambitious landscape: vineyard planting, creation of a 16th century inspired garden, and rehabilitation of 600 m2 of troglodytic cellars, now accessible to the public. In 2011, the site was labeled Maison des Illustres, highlighting its role in the celebration of the French literary heritage. The museum houses rare editions of the 16th century, portraits of Rabelais (including one offered by Matisse in 1951), and archives on local history.

The Devinière, built of tuffeau stone, embodies the rural architecture of the Renaissance. Its 17th-century dovecoier-grange and cellars testify to the region's wine and agricultural activities, closely linked to the life of Rabelais, a doctor, humanist and major writer of the French Renaissance.

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