Photo: Emmanuelhammel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Le Beffroi – musée Boucher de Perthes – Manessier

Encyclopaedic museum in Abbeville beside the belfry, with fine arts, archaeology and natural history; closed for renovation until the end of 2028.

Temporarily closed

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Le Beffroi – musée Boucher de Perthes – ManessierTemporarily closed

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Temporarily closed (expected until 2028). The museum is closed to the public for rehabilitation and extension works. In the meantime, an information point called Maison du chantier presents the project at the Carmel – Maison du patrimoine. School groups and organised groups can request a visit of the collections or the belfry.

About the museum

The museum grew out of the merger of two 19th-century collections: the museum of Abbeville and Ponthieu, founded in 1833 by the Société d'émulation d'Abbeville, and the collection of Jacques Boucher de Perthes (1788–1868), which became a museum in 1872. Numerous bequests, gifts and purchases later enriched the holdings, notably the major donation of the painter Alfred Manessier.

The building was rebuilt in 1954 around the remains of the former town hall. What survives is the belfry, built in 1209, and the former treasury building, which housed the city archives in particular. The whole complex is protected as a historic monument.

The collections are encyclopaedic in scope. Fine and decorative arts span the Middle Ages to the present day, with 15th- and 16th-century sculptures and paintings, 17th- and 18th-century paintings and works from regional schools. The archaeology section covers the region from prehistory to the Merovingian period, as well as the Mediterranean antiquity. The natural history collection presents the ecosystem of the Bay of the Somme and a rich collection of birds.

The museum is closed for rehabilitation and extension works. The city announces its reopening at the end of 2028, with a space dedicated to the Manessier donations.