Quimper Museum of Fine Arts, Quimper, France

The ground-floor halls of Musée des Beaux-Arts are home to some fairly morbid 16th- to 20th-century European paintings, but things lighten up on the upper levels of the town's main art museum. A room dedicated to Quimper-born poet Max Jacob includes sketches by Picasso.

References:

Lonely Planet

Museums in France

User Reviews

World Citizen (3 years ago)
A gem of a museum in a gem of an old town. Beautiful art pieces and quality temporary exhibitions. The Breton art is impressive and there are some larger pieces that are spectacular and well worth the visit just for them. The entry price is also very reasonable at 5 euros which leaves some money for a crêpe after the tour! Plan about 2h for the visit.

Ian Tunbridge (3 years ago)
Punches well above its weight.Consistently good exhibits

steven otten (3 years ago)
Very nicely renovated building, cheap entry but don't expect a half day visit. Only 1,5-2 hour at moderate speed. Exhibition level is fairly high with enough quality to keep you happy.

Ghemma Quiroga (4 years ago)
Excellent exhibition on Odilon Redon at the local museum of Quimper. However, the teacher's pass is not accepted so I had to pay the full price. Staff not very welcoming either.

Tam Mason (4 years ago)
Plan two trips if you are into Breton history through the artists eye. Fantastic exhibitions and well curated spaces.

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Cesis Castle

German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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