Musée Farcot

About the museum

Eugène Farcot, born in Sainville in 1830 and died in 1896, was a clockmaker, traveller and enthusiast of aerial navigation. He bequeathed 80,000 francs to his native commune to create a museum open to all. The departmental architect Émile Vaillant designed the building from two drawings by Farcot, and Paul Vaillant signed the salamander mosaic. Farcot did not live to see the building completed, which is dated 1901 on its façade; his son-in-law, the executor of his will, opened the museum in 1903.

The museum received the Musée de France label in 2003. It was redesigned and reopened to the public in October 2016 with a route devised by Jean-Marc Providence and the COMPA team, which revives the spirit of the cabinets of curiosities fashionable in the 19th century.

The route tells the story of Farcot’s life. A clock-making room recalls his career: he had shown a monumental pendulum clock beside the jewels of the Queen of England at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. Another room brings together archaeological collections linked to his travels (ancient Greece and Rome, ancient Egypt, the Far East). A final room is devoted to aerial navigation: Farcot published a book on the subject in 1859 and flew the balloon-post “Le Louis-Blanc”, which took off from Place Montmartre in Paris on August 12, 1870, during the siege of the city.

Highlights

• Cabinet-of-curiosities route through Eugène Farcot’s house
• Clock-making room devoted to the clockmaker’s career
• Archaeological collections brought back from travels (Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Far East)
• Room on aerial navigation and the 1870 balloon post

Permanent exhibition

• Cabinet de curiosités d'Eugène Farcot – Route in three themes: clock-making, souvenirs of travels and archaeology, aerial navigation.

Founded

1901

Operated by

Commune de Sainville

Admission & discounts

Prices as listed by the Eure-et-Loir departmental tourism portal (“from”).

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

Electric vehicle charging point. Animals are not admitted.

Events & venue rental

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