Musée départemental du Compagnonnage

About the museum

In 1871, Pierre-François Guillon, a journeyman carpenter of the Compagnons du Devoir de Liberté, born in Romanèche-Thorins in 1848, founded a professional school of stereotomy applied to construction in his home village, better known as the école de Trait. Until 1923, many pupils came to train or specialise in carpentry, joinery and stonecutting. Around twenty boarding apprentices took three-year courses each year, and journeymen or outside workers attended evening classes.

After Guillon's death, his son Osiris bequeathed to the Département of Saône-et-Loire the pupils' working drawings (épures) and models, Pierre-François Guillon's masterpieces, and the documents and objects relating to his life as a journeyman and to the history of the school. The museum was built in 1928 to house this collection, which donations, deposits and acquisitions later enriched.

Today the Saône-et-Loire departmental museum displays hundreds of objects, tools, masterpieces, épures, photographs and documents. It also highlights two practices inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: timber-framing layout (2009) and compagnonnage (2010).

Highlights

• Collection of Pierre-François Guillon's timber-framing layout school, with its épures
• Great masterpiece of the Compagnons du Devoir de Liberté of Lyon
• Timber-framing layout and compagnonnage, inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list
• Audio guides in four languages
• Play trail and booklets for children

Permanent exhibitions

• Chefs-d'œuvre et épures de l'école de Pierre-François Guillon – Journeymen's masterpieces, including the great masterpiece of the Compagnons du Devoir de Liberté of Lyon, and épures of the timber-framing layout school.
• Documents et objets du compagnonnage – Hundreds of objects, tools, photographs and documents on compagnonnage, plus a collection on the history of the school and its founder.

Operated by

Département de Saône-et-Loire

Admission & discounts

Also free for Compagnons du Tour de France, ICOM card holders, children in care and accompanied groups, job seekers, RSA recipients, Département staff, and journalists with a press card reporting on the museum; proof required. Self-guided visits are free for school groups.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Limited access for people with reduced mobility: the reception, the shop and the room of masterpieces are accessible. Parking reserved at the museum entrance. The museum's website gives its accessibility level as “non conforme” (non-compliant).

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations

Play trail “Les enfants… à musée-vous !” for 3- to 8-year-olds: children design their own houses using models placed in the rooms. Two visit booklets (ages 6–8 and 9–11) are available at reception. The museum is part of the “Aventures Mômes” family offer of Destination Saône-et-Loire and holds activities during school holidays.

Getting there & parking

Access via the A6 motorway, exit Mâcon Sud (20 km away) or exit Belleville-sur-Saône (12 km away). GPS coordinates: 46.187971, 4.734165.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Bookshop open every day, free access from the main entrance (books, wooden objects, games, souvenirs). Picnics allowed in the garden.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit