Musée du Nouveau Monde

Over het museum

The Musée du Nouveau Monde was championed by Michel Crépeau, then mayor of La Rochelle, and opened in 1982. It illustrates the links between France, and especially La Rochelle, and the Americas since the 16th century. The city was one of the great trading and emigration ports for New France and the Antilles.

The museum occupies the Hôtel Fleuriau, a town mansion built between 1740 and 1750 by Jean Regnaud de Beaulieu. Aimé Benjamin Fleuriau, who had returned rich from his plantation in Saint-Domingue, bought it in 1772; his family lived there until 1974. Around 1780, a second wing was added, opening onto a garden.

When it was founded, the museum was praised for its originality: it was the first to address the slave-trading past of a French port and to display objects linked to the slave trade and slavery in the Antillean colonies. Its collections include paintings, drawings, prints, old maps, decorative art objects and photographs of Brazil, Canada or Louisiana, as well as 18th-century French furniture and a rare set of American colonial furniture. Temporary exhibitions and contemporary works complement the route.

Hoogtepunten

• Sculpture of Toussaint Louverture by Ousmane Sow in the courtyard
• View of the port of La Rochelle in 1762, painting by Édouard Pinel
• Rooms devoted to the slave trade and the abolition of slavery
• Photographs by Edward Curtis of Native Americans
• American colonial furniture and 18th-century French furniture
• Hôtel Fleuriau, an 18th-century town mansion

Vaste collectie

• Parcours permanent : les collections sur les Amériques – The route runs from the first floor to the third floor and covers the discovery of the Americas, La Rochelle as a port city, the slave trade, colonial products and the abolition of slavery.

Opgericht

1982

Beheerder

Ville de La Rochelle

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Gratis toegang: Every first Sunday of the month, except in July and August

Free admission also for job seekers and recipients of the RSA, members of ICOM or ICOMOS, teachers preparing a visit, journalists and tour guides. Payment in cash, by check, by bank card, by chèques-vacances, by administrative transfer order (mandat administratif) or by bank transfer.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk: niet aanwezig
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats: geen informatie
• Hulphonden welkom: geen informatie
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The museum is not accessible to people with reduced mobility. The toilets are on the second floor. A welcome service for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors is offered by phone.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Speurtocht, doeboekje of kinderaudiotour
• Speeltuin / speelhoek
• Kinderfeestjes

In 2018 the museum joined the Môm’Art charter of joyful museums. Activity bags for 5- to 12-year-olds and visit booklets are lent free at reception. A family area on the second floor offers books, board games and creative activities. Birthday parties are organized for children aged 6 to 12, and workshops take place during the holidays.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

From Niort, enter La Rochelle via the boulevard Sautel towards the city center. From Rochefort, follow the signs for the SNCF station and then the city center. From Laleu airport or the Île de Ré, take the ring road, exit at Saint-Éloi, then follow the boulevard Sautel.

Service & horeca

• Kluisjes

Lockers with keys and folding seats at reception.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Requests to use spaces are considered on a case-by-case basis.

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