Georges Labit Museum, Toulouse, France

The Georges Labit Museum (founded in 1893) is dedicated to artifacts from the Far-Eastern and Egyptian civilizations. The museum was founded by Georges Labit (1862–1899), a passionate amateur who travelled the world in search of ancient art and artifacts. It is housed in a moorish villa erected by Toulousian architect Jules Calbayrac. The complex also contains an exotic garden, a specialist library, and a screening room.

References:

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Museums in France

User Reviews

Troltwentythree (4 months ago)
A tiny museum, but definitely worth a visit, lovely garden surrounding it too.

Paul Taylor (8 months ago)
The unfriendly staff made us feel most unwelcome and uncomfortable as they followed us around. The fact that we were with children made it worse especially when they made remarks about them.

KIRAN HEWGILL (10 months ago)
Amazed at the collection from various Asian countries invluding Egyp, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, China and Japan. The Egyptian Mummy is well preseved. Was so surprised to find an ancient sculpture from Indian Temples of Khajuraho!!!!Staff were informative and helpful. Do recommend a visit!!!!

Beanatta Zen (18 months ago)
Beautiful little museum, a good atmosphere. Would have loved it to be bigger.

Baptiste Bergelin (2 years ago)
Quite small, I visited the place during 30min and that was enough for me. The location is nice. The collection itself is kind of complete but I think you need to be an connoisseur to really enjoy what's there. It's not my kind of museum but that's my personal opinion.

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Church of the Savior on Blood

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg. The church was built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and was dedicated in his memory. Construction began in 1883 under Alexander III, as a memorial to his father, Alexander II. Work progressed slowly and was finally completed during the reign of Nicholas II in 1907. Funding was provided by the Imperial family with the support of many private donors.

Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The city's architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood harks back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism. It intentionally resembles the 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and the celebrated St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

The Church contains over 7500 square metres of mosaics — according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world. The interior was designed by some of the most celebrated Russian artists of the day — including Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and Mikhail Vrubel — but the church's chief architect, Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, was relatively little-known (born in St. Petersburg in 1842 in a Baltic-German Lutheran family). Perhaps not surprisingly, the Church's construction ran well over budget, having been estimated at 3.6 million roubles but ending up costing over 4.6 million. The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture.

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the church was ransacked and looted, badly damaging its interior. The Soviet government closed the church in the early 1930s. During the Second World War when many people were starving due to the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi German military forces, the church was used as a temporary morgue for those who died in combat and from starvation and illness. The church suffered significant damage. After the war, it was used as a warehouse for vegetables, leading to the sardonic name of Saviour on Potatoes.

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