Musée de la Castre, Cannes, France

An attack by the Saracens in 891, who remained until the end of the 10th century, devastated the country around current Cannes. The insecurity of the Lérins islands forced the local monks to settle on the mainland, at the Suquet (today the old town). Construction of a castle in 1035 fortified the city by then known as Cannes.

The castle was damaged in end of the 16th century and partially demolished in the 18th century. In 1919, the municipality of Cannes acquired all the buildings in order to house its museum. Today the Musée de la Castre hosts 19th-century Riviera landscape art, musical instruments & ethnographical items in a medieval tower.

User Reviews

avoirdupois1 (10 months ago)
Great museum with friendly staff and well maintained exhibits. Large variety, including paintings, ancient artifacts from mesopotamia, Egypt, Cyprus, but also Polynesia and Pacific island cultures in displays that are well lit so that detail can be easily seen.

Neil Zeelug (10 months ago)
The museum was well put together with displays that had information in multiple languages - which was helpful. The real benefit of the tour was getting to the top of the tower to see the city. Worth checking out!

Elvern Neylmav Tanny (12 months ago)
Go to the top and you can see the amazing view of Cannes. Student’s entrance is free!

Tom Holder (13 months ago)
Entrance is €6.50, and the staff are very nice. The museum is small, probably taking 20 minutes. The tower in the middle is a great view of the city, and the main reason to go to the museum. There are English explanations on cards in most of the rooms.

July Summer (2 years ago)
An interesting museum, we accidentally visited it, when there was a free entrance. There is a beautiful city view from a tower.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.

Musée de la Castre

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater