Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée d'art, histoire et archéologie d'Évreux came into being in 1872, when the city decided to create a museum in the former Ursulines convent. In 1873, the department of Eure deposited its collection of archaeology. In 1878, a new building was built on the current Place De Gaulle, inaugurated in 1881. This first museum welcomes objects from local excavations, including the Gallo-Roman site of Old Evreux, and highlights remarkable antique bronzes.

In 1955, the department ceded the 16th century bishopric to the city, allowing a complete reorganization of the collections. The museum reopened partially in 1961 in this new place, then completely in 1972. An extension in 1985 added an underground room and reinforced the chronological presentation (prehistory, protohistory, Gallo-Roman, merovingian). Acquisitions and donations enrich the sections, notably in religious art (albasters, tapestries of Aubusson) and furniture of the 17th–15th centuries, with reconstructed salons (Louis XV and Louis XVI styles).

Since the 1980s, the museum has developed a collection of contemporary art, including currents such as lyrical abstraction or Supports/Surfaces. Its thematic areas cover archaeology, fine arts, decorative arts (ceramic, goldsmithy, textiles), and local history, with objects from the department of Eure. The building, classified as a Historical Monument for its episcopal dependencies, illustrates both the architectural heritage and the diversity of collections, from Greek antiquities to twentieth century creations.

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