In 1977, the municipality of Figeac restored Champollion's birthplace, turning it into a museum dedicated to the town's most famous child.
A little history...
The museum was inaugurated in December 1986 by French President François Mitterrand, the first stage in a more ambitious project.
The building adjoining the Maison Champollion was acquired by the Mairie, tripling the available space.
The renovation of the museum was carried out by the Moatti & Rivière agency under the direction of architect Alain Moatti.
The originality of the project lies in the building's double facade: a medieval stone facade and a second facade of copper and glass, pierced by signs of writing from all over the world.
Pierre di Sciullo, graphic designer and typographer, designed the typefaces for the "façade of a thousand letters".
Pascal Payeur designed the scenography for the permanent exhibition.
The Musée Champollion can now set itself the goal of enriching its collections and placing the immense work of Jean-François Champollion at the heart of the great history of writing.
The new Musée Champollion, subtitled "Les Écritures du Monde", opened its doors in July 2007.
The Museum, the collections...
Based on the work of the famous decipherer of hieroglyphics, the collections recount the fabulous adventure of writing, and invite visitors to take a journey through cultures from all over the world: from Mexico to China, via Egypt and the Near East, objects inscribed with brush, calamus or pen evoke a history that began 5300 years ago.
The museum's itinerary comprises eight rooms on four levels, with several themes: "Man, the world and writing", "The birth of writing", "The invention of alphabets in the Mediterranean", "The book, the memory of mankind", "Writing, power and citizenship".
To round off the tour, a multimedia lounge invites visitors to explore certain subjects in greater depth, with videos, websites and more, including a never-before-seen document on the reconstruction of the mummy in 3 dimensions.
Musée Champollion - Les Écritures du Monde
place Champollion
46100 Figeac
Tel.: 05 65 50 31 08
musee@ville-figeac.fr
https://www.tourisme-lot.com/offres/musee-champollion-les-ecritures-du-monde-figeac-fr-659549/
