The Charles Portal Museum, named after a prominent figure from Cordes, recounts the history of Cordes-sur-Ciel and its surroundings from prehistory to the 19th century through art, history, architecture, and archaeology.
Objects, videos, facsimiles of ancient documents, and explanatory panels are on display in eight rooms of this museum, which has been certified as a “Musée de France” since September 17, 2003, and is housed in a medieval building classified as a “historic monument,” the Maison des Ormeaux.
Visitors can watch a film about the amazing well in the market hall, as well as three slideshows (the Libre Ferrat, Saint-Michel Church, and Gothic house facades) and five films.
This complex consists of the Porte des Ormeaux, built in the 13th century and modified in the 14th century, and the adjoining building with its five 14th-century Gothic ribbed vaults.
A little history
The museum was created in 1934 on the initiative of the Société des Amis du Vieux Cordes (Friends of Old Cordes Society) and its vice-president, Charles Portal.
Since 2008, the Portail Peint site, which housed the museum, was no longer suitable for ensuring the safety of an increasingly large number of visitors.
It was therefore transferred to the Maison des Ormeaux.
The museum belongs to the Société des Amis du Vieux Cordes, founded in 1904.
Charles Portal Museum – History of a City
Maison des Ormeaux
Porte des Ormeaux
1, rue Saint-Michel
81170 Cordes-sur-Ciel
Tel.: 09 72 87 07 95
https://museecharlesportal.fr/
Translated with DeepL.com
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