Musée du Périgord

The Musée d'art et d'archéologie du Périgord, usually shortened to Musée du Périgord, is the oldest museum in the Dordogne, founded in 1835 by local scholars and collectors. It occupies the buildings of a former Augustinian convent in the centre of Périgueux, a short walk from the old quarter, and its cloister gives the museum a calm, enclosed character. The city itself has been settled since prehistory, and under the Romans, around 16 BC, it became Vesunna, so the collections have a natural local anchor.

The prehistoric galleries are the main draw. The Périgord is one of the richest prehistoric regions in the world, with the Vézère valley and its famous caves a short drive away, and the museum's collection of flint tools, bones and engraved objects is among the largest in France. The displays are organised by site and by period, so you can follow the story from very early stone tools, among them a double-sided hand axe from La Croix du Duc, through to the Upper Palaeolithic. A fossil skeleton from Raymonden, associated with a rock shelter near Périgueux, is a highlight and represents hunter-gatherers who lived in the region at the end of the last Ice Age.

The museum is not only about prehistory. Gallo-Roman and medieval pieces, many of them fragments rescued from buildings that were demolished or from excavations in the city, show how Périgueux changed over time. The fine arts collections occupy the cloister and one wing, arranged chronologically from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, and the walls are painted in different colours to help visitors tell the centuries apart. There is also a notable ethnographic collection with works from Africa and Oceania, built up through the gifts of travellers, missionaries and collectors.

The building is part of the pleasure. Walking through a former convent with a cloister lets you take in the contrast between the quiet architecture and the objects on display, and the shaded courtyard is a good place to pause. The museum covers a lot of ground, so decide beforehand whether you want to see everything or concentrate on prehistory and the archaeological rooms, which are most relevant to the region.

The Musée du Périgord pairs well with the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum, which presents a Roman house on its original site and sits at the other end of the story. Together with the Cathédrale Saint-Front and the narrow streets around Rue des Halles, they make a good half-day or day in Périgueux. The museum suits families with older children, history enthusiasts and travellers who want background before visiting the prehistoric caves of the Dordogne, as well as anyone looking for a rainy-day visit.