Musée de Préhistoire et d'Archéologie Nationale

The archaeology and history museum of Vannes is housed in the Château Gaillard, a late medieval town house in the old centre. It is run by the local learned society, the Société polymathique du Morbihan, and it sits close to the cathedral and the Place du Martray.

The building itself is part of the attraction. Château Gaillard is a fifteenth-century mansion, built of stone with a dignified gabled front, and at one time it housed a court of the Parlement de Bretagne, which was moved to Vannes for several years in the seventeenth century. The museum rooms hold the region's archaeological collection, with a focus on the prehistoric period, when Morbihan became one of the richest places in Europe for standing stones and burial mounds.

The prehistoric collection is what makes the museum important. The Gulf of Morbihan and the nearby Carnac area contain some of the largest concentrations of megaliths in the world, and many of the objects found in the tombs ended up here: polished stone axes, pendants and beads made from rare green stones, pottery and tools. The polished axes are particularly fine, with careful shaping and smooth surfaces, and they show the skill and trade links of early farming communities. Later periods are represented as well, including Bronze Age metalwork, Gallo-Roman objects from the Roman town of Darioritum, which stood on the site of Vannes, and medieval pieces such as decorated floor tiles.

Renovation work has affected how the collections are shown, and some items have been displayed elsewhere, including the Musée des Beaux-Arts at La Cohue, a former market hall in the same area. Because arrangements change, check the current situation before you plan a visit.

Pair the museum with a walk along the Vannes City Walls and through the Old Town, where timbered houses lean over narrow lanes, and with a boat trip on the Gulf. If you want to see the stones themselves, Carnac and the island of Gavrinis lie a short drive away, and the Château de Suscinio is nearby. It suits curious visitors, families and anyone preparing for the megalith sites.