Stretched out over a surface of 26 hectares, southwards from the city of Lorient, the ancient submarine base Kéroman is established in the middle of the roadstead, in front of the Port-Luois citadel and the Island of Saint-Michel

From the summer of 1940 and the German victory in the west, the Kriegesmarine fits out bases in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The Lorient arsenal is chosen by Admiral Karl Dönitz to accommodate one of the five huge bases installed on the French coasts of the Atlantic to protect the U-Boote. From June 21st 1940, the first day the city was occupied, work commenced to free the docks, in order to allow the submarines to enter the Lorient port on July 7th. In spite of the reinforcement of the site from the Kriegesmarine, the German headquarter quickly realised, that these installations are not suitable enough for the conduct of the Atlantic war and thus decides to build a concrete unit constituting a real underwater base, more suited to resist the violence of the allied shelling. Under fire from the planes of the Royal Air Force, 15 000 workers build between February 1941 and January 1943 three huge concreted blocks, with amazing dimensions: the flank measures 130m and 18.5 m high for the blocks Kéroman I (KI) znd Kéroman II (K II), with roofs measuring 3.5 m thickness; the Kéroman III (KIII) block is 170m long, 122 m large and has a roof thickness of 7,5,m. The new Kéroman underwater base can resist to the classic shells, then the most powerful of that period, and is able to shelter more the 25 submarines thanks to installations exposed directly to the sea. It has the capacity to hoist the most impressive submarines, in protected cells thanks to a slipway. The presence of this base considered indestructible is the reason that Lorient suffered massive bombardments from the allies' aviation, which transformed the city into a vast field of ruins. Since the concrete protection was never really damaged during the war, the French national navy has used the Kéroman site since 1945. They installed a fleet of submarines, an annexation of the Lorient arsenal (DCN), as well as a zone, where the submariners can live.
July 6th 1946 the Kéroman bases were baptised with this name by Jacques Stosskopf, section chief of the new constructions in the Lorient arsenal. He will later on be deported and executed by the Nazis, accusing him to have transmitted precious information about the strategic activity of the base to the resistance network, during the entire occupation period. In 1995, the ministry of defence announces, in the framework of its reorganization plan, the abandonment of the site that will become effective in February 1997, with the departure from Kéroman of the last submarine "La Sirène".
The visit of the Kéromann III block Now days only Kéroman III block is open to the public to visit. The other sectors of the base are inactive or occupied by factories. A guided path of approximately an hour and a half gives to the visitor the chance to discover the greatest buildings built in Lorient, measuring 24000 m2 . They can also climb the roof constituting a splendid view-point dominating the roadstead of Lorient and its harbours. In the south east of the base, the block contains seven cells, who's most important is 103 m long and 22,5 m large and offers two sites. In 1944 its construction remained unfinished, since the block was under continuous bombardment during the whole time of its construction. Individuals can visit the site during the school holidays, and groups may visit the site during the whole year on reservation. The opening dates are available at the tourist office of Lorient.
Flanking the walls of the base, the Davis Tower was built in 1942 for the submarines training. In 1953 the national navy restores it back into service. From 1999 it resurfaces thanks to a museographic space dedicated to the immersed inheritance of Lorient. Equipped with a decompression chamber simulating the living conditions of the crews, the museum gives to the visitor the chance to plunge back into the past and discover the wrecks of this region. Open every Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. During July and August, open every day from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Count approximately an hour of visit.
Recently purchaser of this site, having at its disposal more than 1200 m of cost line, the community of agglomeration of Lorrient, controls a conversion project of the base centred on the major topic: "The man and the sea during the XXI century". The installation of several companies in the old concrete blocks, that sheltered the submarines, contributed to the development of a strong activity in the water sports sector. In the long term, the opening of a company-village, based on the maritime, advanced technology industry is envisaged. By the year 2005 the inauguration of the Tabarly Academy will take place. This area pays tribute to the memory of the missing sailors, with a media library, by organising exhibitions and by giving information on the topics of the oceanic races. The opening to the public of the "Flora" submarine, that was in service from 1964 until its disarmament in 1989 in Kéroman is forecasted. A first phase of works is considered, in order to repair the submarine, the boat ramp which supports it and the transporter bridge between the K I block and the K II block. After the renovation is completed, footbridges will make it possible to reach a museographic space, dedicated to the submarine base of Kéroman and exhibiting the every day life on board of the submarines.
Base Submarine Peninsula Keroman 56100 Lorient Phone: 02 97 02 23 29 Rate : Full price: 6 €, reduced 3 €, free for children under 12 years Hours : [list] Outside school holidays: Every Sunday at 15 pm [list] School holidays: daily at 15 am on Saturday. [list] Closed December 25 and 31 and the entire month of January Tourist office of Lorient email :contact@lorient-tourisme.com

The city of Castres has dedicated a museum to Jean Jaurès, a native son born in 1859, a champion of socialism and an exceptional orator, a committed pacifist assassinated by Raoul Villain on 31 July 1914 on the eve of World War I.

The Jean Jaurès National Centre and Museum is located in the centre of the city of Castres. This establishment is designed to present Jean Jaurès’ activities and work, while ensuring research work and coordinating events based on the fundamental subjects and ideas of the 19th and 20th centuries.


History

Opened in February 1988 and inaugurated on 16 November of that year by François Mitterand, President of the French Republic, it was founded thanks to the City of Castres, which wanted to showcase the wealth of the Jaurès collections at the museum founded in 1954 to increase understanding of this great thinker, orator, journalist, writer and politician. The effective cooperation of the Société d'Etudes Jaurésiennes, chaired by Mrs Madeleine Rébéroiux, and the precious help of many specialists and historians have made it possible to create a coherent, thorough and modern cultural unit.

 

The collections

The ground floor holds the temporary exhibitions (free admission) on various subjects dealing with the period between 1880 and 1914 (economics, society, everyday life, culture), showcasing regional artists or presenting current issues. There is a rest area, a bar and a counter where visitors can buy postcards, posters and publications about Jean Jaurès.

The first floor houses the museum (paid admission) which gives a chronological and thematic presentation of the great orator’s life:
37 panels, 6 windows and two video terminals showcase various objects and documents. Busts, statuettes, international works on Jean Jaurès, paintings, moulds and workers’ tools are also exhibited.

The second floor has a conference room equipped with audiovisual equipment for projecting films and slides and for organising conferences, debates and seminars (seating capacity: 50 people).

The third floor is dedicated to preservation, consultation, research and documentation: books, reviews, newspapers and archives, which are made available to everyone who wants to use them, notably students, journalists and researchers. The Museum’s library, these works can be consulted on site and are not on loan. Firstly, there is everything written by and about Jean Jaurès and all the texts published when he was alive, but also manuscripts, photographs, a rich iconographic collection and many newspapers and magazines such as “La Dépêche” from 1887 to 1914, “La Petite République” from 1893 to 1903, “La Revue de l'Enseignement Primaire” from 1904 to 1914, etc.

The documentation and research centre has many interesting and rare booklets as well as major collections such as “Le Mouvement Socialiste” (1899-1914), Compère-Morel’s “Encyclopédie Socialiste” (1912-1921), stenographic reports of all the Socialist conferences from 1900 to 1920, essential documents published by the Second International, etc.

Jean Jaurès National Centre and Museum

2 place Pélisson - 81100 CASTRES

Tél. 05 63 62 41 83 - Fax : 05 63 50 39 02

e-mail : jaures@ville-castres.fr

Museum Visitors’ Service

Hôtel de Ville - B.P. 406

81108 CASTRES Cedex

Tél. : 05.63.71.59.28

Fax : 05.63.71.59.26

E-mail : jb.alba@ville-castres.fr

City of Castres

Friends of the museum of Castres

The current Museum of the History of the Town of Saint Malo was created after the Second World War as part of the reconstruction of the historic site of Saint Malo, 80% of which was destroyed in 1944, inside the chateau's Grand-Donjon (Great Dungeon), an imposing horse-shoe shaped tower which was started in 1424 under the orders of Duke Jean V de Bretagne.

This museum's initial purpose was to commemorate the rich maritime past of the famous Breton corsair port, whilst not forgetting to mention the great intellectual figures born there, such as Chateaubriand, Lamennais and Maupertuis. 

In addition, sections specialising in ethnographic matters such as cod-fishing in Newfoundland and the memories of Captains of the Cape Horn long distance race have also been set up, the former being displayed in the tour Générale (General Tower), next to the Grand-Donjon and the latter in the Solidor Tower at Saint-Servan under the name of the International Museum of the Cape Horn long distance race.

The collections relating to cod fishing in Newfoundland are displayed on the ground floor of the tour Générale around a full-size dory with all its equipment. On the next floor, as well as some interesting models of "terre-neuvier" boats, there is a portrayal of life in the Saint-Malo area at the time of the terre-neuvas with a few pieces of furniture (a buffet, chest of drawers and a closet bed) and traditional hairstyles. On the second floor, which is curiously vaulted into a dome, there are, alongside a few older works, some paintings from the first third of the 20th century by Nozal, Signac's "Le Pardon des Terre-Neuvas", Guillaumin's "Saint-Servan" and "la tour Solidor", and works by Friesz and Frank-Will etc. Visitors must not miss the summons of Commandant Charcot (1867-1936), depicted in a portrait by R.-Y. Creston, a large canvas by E. Blandin and the gangway that helped to save the master helmsman of the famous exploration ship, the "Pourquoi-Pas?", when it was shipwrecked.

Amongst the most remarkable exhibits, we must draw attention to an impressive figurehead from the first third of the 19th century representing an unidentified 17th-18th century sailor and a tapestry on a water theme by Gromaire on the first floor. From the former chapel, recognisable from the outside by its small bell tower, the only thing to survive is the painting that adorned its alter-piece before the Revolution: The Lamentation of Christ by Jean-Baptiste Santerre (1651-1717), considered by specialists to be a major example of the artist's religious painting. Articles linked to the religious history of Saint-Malo have also been brought together in this former chapel, including the torchlight procession of the Saint-Malo gunners, said to be by Sainte-Barbe, a portrait of Monsignor Duchesne (1843-1922) by L. Lambert, a bell from 1645, and a sculpted 17th century wooden chandelier. Of note in the display cases are a sketch by the local painter Doutreleau for the large painting - destroyed in 1944 - of the funeral of Chateaubriand in 1848 on the islet of le Grand-Bé, as well as a votive offering from a corsair gunner.

The portrait of Chateaubriand by Girodet, saved in 1944, is displayed on the second floor with another portrait of the young Chateaubriand, wearing a wig, which was painted in the last quarter of the 18th century. But most of this room is devoted to coverage of the commercial war and its most famous local representative, Robert Surcouf (1773-1827) including the painting of the Capturing of the Kent by the Confiance by Garneray (1850). Also of note, a statuette of the P. Santemier, whose juicy story goes that " Surcouf in his role of a chaplain, had his own way of administering the Last Rites"... and a marble bust of Lemennais by Cougny. On the third floor the star of the show is the portrait of Duguay-Trouin (1673-1736) and a large canvas depicting the taking of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 under the orders of this great seafarer, a work by Gudin (1802-1880). We must also point out a globe by Desnos (1768) and two old scale models, one of which is a third rate ship by a Naval petty officer, a very fine polychrome megaphone, an armillary sphere by Delamarche and a portrait of Maupertuis (1698-1759) etc. This section is due to be expanded thanks to the addition of the finds from the underwater excavations. The fourth floor of the donjon, dedicated to Saint-Malo at the time of Duchess Anne and to Jacques Cartier and his voyages of discovery to North America, is currently being refurbished.
 

Museum of the History of the Town and the Pays Malouin

Château - 35400 Saint-Malo

Tel. +33 (0) 2 99 40 71 57

e-mail: musee@ville-saint-malo.fr

Open :

(from the 1st April to 30th September) Every day except the 1st May 10 am - 12.30 pm / 2 pm - 6 pm Low season. Every day except Monday and Bank Holidays 10 am - 12 pm / 2 pm - 6 pm

Rates Single ticket

Adults: 5.40 € Groups of more than 10 adults: 4.50 € Groups holding a "passeport vacances": 4.50 € Groups of more than 100 people (from 15/09 to 30/04): 2.70 € Schoolchildren and students: 2.70 € School groups from the Saint-Malo district: Free Military personnel: Free Group leaders, those registered with the ANPE, or receiving the RMI: Free

Combined ticket

(3 museums - Museums of the Chateau, the Solidor and the 39/45 Memorial) Adults: 12.70 € Groups of more than 10 adults: 9.50 € Groups holding a "passeport vacances": 9,50 € Groups of more than 100 people (from 15/09 to 30/04): 6,30 € Schoolchildren and students: 6,30 € School groups from the Saint-Malo district: Free Military personnel: Free Group leaders, those registered with the ANPE, or receiving the RMI: Free

This heavily-fortified rectangular Citadel is a flagship example of military architecture, and has an extraordinary view of the harbour. The Port-Louis Citadel is now home to the National Maritime Museum, where you will find an excellent collection of model ships, weapons and other historic models. You can also visit the museum dedicated to the history of the Indies Company. In the Arsenal Room, there are displays of superb vintage models, as well as paintings and sculptures depicting French naval history from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. The Powder Keg Room houses a large collection of weapons.

The construction of the Citadel began under the orders of the Spanish engineer Cristobal de Rojas in 1590 at the time of the war of the Catholic Holy League. The Citadel, which was completed during the reign of the French king Louis XIII, is strategically positioned on the southeastern point of the peninsula of Lorient harbour. Apart from serving a defensive role, the Citadel was also inhabited and used for receptions, as well as serving as a refuge or prison (it was a shelter for refractory priests during the French Revolution, refractory conscripts under the Empire, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in 1836, Communards, members of the Resistance and many others).
June 2002 saw the inauguration of various new exhibition rooms dedicated to underwater archaeology, the discovery of new artefacts, and the restoration of these artefacts. The archaeologist Franck Goddio donated over 160 artefacts to the National Maritime Museum, all related to the period of West-East trade between the eleventh and the seventeenth centuries and found in the wrecks of three junks, a galleon and a naval vessel. These artefacts are on display at Port-Louis, along with the remains of the cargo of the Mauritius, a Dutch ship that sank in 1609 (discovered during excavation by the Department of Underwater and Undersea Archaeological Research in 1986) offered by Elf-Gabon and the Gabonese government to the National Maritime Museum. The new 'Ocean Treasures' exhibition was created by the National Maritime Museum in association with the Regional Council of Brittany, the Morbihan Departmental Committee for Tourism and the Pays de Lorient Urban Community.
Tourist Information: 47, grande Rue, 56290 Port-Louis. Telephone: (+33) 2 97 82 52 93 Museum: Telephone: (+33) 2 97 12 10 37/Fax: (+33) 2 97 82 17 28 Closed: the 1st of December - the 1st of January (inclusive). Museum open from the 1st of April to the 30th of September, from 10h-18.30h (except on Tuesdays in April and May, and the 1st of May). From the 1st of October to the 31st of March: From 13.30h-18h (except on Tuesdays).

The Franco-Swiss Museum in Rueil-Malmaison is in the former guardhouse of the Swiss barracks in Rueil-Malmaison. On its two floors it presents the history of this elite regiment that became permanent in 1616. History of the Swiss Guards The place where this brand new Franco-Swiss Museum was created is the most appropriate that could ever be imagined, for not only is it in Rueil which was once one of the most Swiss areas of France, but it is in the very place occupied by the famous regiment of Swiss Guards created by Louis XIII in 1616. For decades the population of Rueil lived in close contact with the Swiss Guards, who became an integral part of their daily lives, to the point of becoming integrated into the families of Rueil. In 1755, Louis XV had a barracks built in Rueil by Charles Axel Guillaumo to house 800 guards from the 2nd battalion of the Swiss Guards regiments, who had formerly lodged with local families. The destruction of the regiment would not mark the definitive end of a Swiss presence in Rueil. Under the Restoration, between 1816 and 1830, the barracks was to welcome back two battalions of Swiss Guards.

The museum Of the three barracks required under Louis XV to house the Swiss Guards, the only one that survives is the one in Rueil. The Courbevoie barracks was destroyed in 1962 and the one in Saint-Denis demolished in 1969. Shortly afterwards, on 28th August 1974, the façades and roofs of the main building and the four houses on the barracks road in Rueil became listed as historic monuments. The museum is in the former guardhouse of this barracks, the only one to survive of the three that were built at the same time. On its two floors it presents the history of this elite regiment that became permanent in 1616.
Franco-Swiss Museum Guardhouse of the Swiss Barracks (Guynemer Barracks) 5, place du général Leclerc 92501 Rueil-Malmaison Tel.: 01.47.32.66.50 Fax: 01.47.32.12.58 Opening Times Every Thursday from 2.30 pm until 6 pm By appointment Closed for annual holidays in July and August Charges Entrance charge: 2 €

The Post Office Museum is a place of both remembrance and conservation, a research and documentation centre, focussing on writing, the fine arts, history and society. History Opened in 1946, the Post Office Museum was situated in the 6th district of Paris, in the former Choiseul Praslin Hotel, which dates from the beginning of the 18th century. In 1973 this location had become too cramped and the museum moved into its current purpose-built building at 34 boulevard de Vaugirard, right in the heart of the Montparnasse area. Today the museum occupies 15 rooms and the general public starts its tour from the 5th floor, following a circuit that finishes on the ground floor. Setting the scene In fifteen rooms the Post Office Museum offers an introduction into the history of the Post Office, from its origins to the modern day, along with a taste of the world of philately. The circuit (the tour starts from the 5th floor), which links the chronology with important events, emphasises the social aspect of this business. But it is also a history of the French people that is told here, through the Post Office and philately. Old post boxes, postillion and postmen's uniforms, models of mail coaches, valuable postage stamps and artistic works: all the items in this exhibition form part of a collection that is extraordinary and rich in colour.

Collections The Post Office Museum looks after the stamp and postal collections belonging to the State and those of the Post Office. In a space of 1500 m² the historical, philatelic, scientific and artistic heritage is displayed, consisting of exhibits as diverse as postage stamps, the first road maps, postmen's uniforms, artists' mock-ups, archives and common objects and finally a large collection of mail and postal art.
The historical collections department is a valuable mine of information for historians and those interested in the history of Post Office administration. The Museum holds collections of postmen's almanacs, Post Office calendars, postcards, archives, touring guides, post office books and itineraries, stamps, common objects and contemporary works of art.
The Photographic Library The photographic library contains over 150,000 plates, from famous characters of the airmail service to Villemot's posters for savings accounts and the plates of all French postage stamps. Consultations and loans by appointment on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tel.: 01.42.79.24.16 The Llibrary With over 25,000 volumes and more than 850 periodical titles, the Museum's library is host to researchers and those interested in information about stamp collecting or on the history of the Post Office. Works and periodicals can be consulted on the premises, with a charge for photocopies. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10 am until 6 pm. Tel.: 01.42.79.24.03 The Philately Point In the Museum lobby there is a "Philately Point" where purchases can be made of stamps from France, Monaco, Andorra, Mayotte, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, newly released current stamps, pre-paid envelopes and the Post Office's philately products, such as First day covers. The philately point is open during Museum opening hours, from Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. The Loans Department The loans department can respond to any requests about: Historical collections - tel.: 01.42.79.24.27 Philately collections - tel.: 01. 42.79.24.41 The Conference area The Museum has an auditorium for hire, seating 162 people. Tel.: 01 42 79 23 33 The Historical Collections Department This department looks after iconographic objects and documents that relate to the development of the organisation and the jobs within the Post Office, as well as traditions in writing and correspondence. The Museum also has extensive archives on the history of the Post Office and the telegraph. Consultation of items not on display is by appointment on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tel.: 01.42.79.24.23
Post Office Museum of Paris 34 Bd de Vaugirard 75731 PARIS CEDEX 1e-mail: collections.historiques@laposte.net Access by underground: Montparnasse, Pasteur, Falguière Access by bus: lines 28, 48, 88, 89, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96 Opening times The Post Office Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10 am until 6 pm. It is closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays Admission charges Permanent Collections: Full price: 5 € Reduced rate: 3.50 € Free for: the under 18's, The Post Office Group, the Friends of the Post Office, holders of an ICOM card, group leaders and Inter-Museum pass holders. Temporary Exhibitions: Full price: 5/6 € Reduced rate: 3.50 € / 4.50 € Guided tours: (Additional charge for tours in English) Joint visit (museum and exhibition): Full price: 7 € / 8 € Reduced rate: 5.50 € / 6.50 € (for the unemployed, students and groups of more than 20 people) Free for postal workers

The Saint-Denis art and history museum is housed in the town’s former Carmelite convent. Founded in 1625, the convent was enlarged by Louis XV’s daughter, Madame Louise of France, following her time there from 1770 to 1787.

The building was bought by the town council in 1972 and has been used as a museum since 1981. The archaeology collections in the old refectory display the results of digs carried out since 1973 by the Saint-Denis Archaeology Unit. Between 1973 and 1992, 33 000 objects were unearthed, added to which are millions of potsherds, animal bones and building materials.

They constitute an important documentary record of everyday life in the Middle Ages, from various angles: home and crafts, music and games, cooking and diet, clothes and jewellery, etc.

The former sacristy, converted into a parlour in the 18th century, houses the collections from the old hospital: paintings, sculptures, decorative ironwork and many documents on hospital life under the Ancien Régime.

An adjoining room known as the “Apothecary’s Room”, presents a remarkable series of pharmaceutical ceramics produced in the workshops of Rouen, Never and Saint-Cloud. Restored cells on the first floor give an insight into the workings and everyday life of the convent.

A reconstruction of Louise of France’s cell adjoins a display of liturgical ornaments, monastic artworks, Guillot canvases, and masterpieces like Laurent de la Hyre’s triptych Mary Magdalen at the Foot of the Cross or François Perrier’s St Augustine offering his heart to the Baby Jesus.

Split between two floors of the Louis XV pavilion, the Paul Éluard collection sheds light on the private life and political engagement of the poet and co-founder of the Surrealist movement, through original documents (manuscripts, letters, photographs), original editions, personal belongings and books from his own library.

Still on the second floor, in the 350 sqm of apartments where Louis XV’s daughters stayed when visiting the convent, is an important collection on the Commune and Sieges of Paris.

The collection, begun in 1930, comprises over 10 000 pieces, including weapons and a wealth of images: Épinal prints, portraits and caricatures of generals, letters, posters, lithographs, photographs, paintings and sculptures by artists of the time: André Gill, André Lançon, Draner, Klenck and Jules Girardet.

Thus, alongside the red flag of the church of Saint-Leu on Boulevard de Sébastopol are Georges Salendre’s bust of Gustave Courbet, Philippoteaux’s Fighting in Père-Lachaise, caricatures by Daumier, Cham and Le Petit, Appert’s photographic portraits of Communards, military illustrations by Bertrall, and anti-Communard photomontages by Bruno Braquehais.

Political posters and periodicals such as L’Île des Pins, a newspaper of Communards deported to New Caledonia, round off the political presentation of events. Objects from everyday life tell of the struggle for survival during the siege.

A collection of old books, historical research by pioneers (Camille Pelletan, Louis Veuillot, Henri Monin), monographs and memoirs of Communards, military surveys (Pichon), books on the caricatures and writings about the provincial communes (Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille) are all available for researchers to complement their visit to the museum.

Other services

The Cultural and Educational Outreach Service invites the public of all ages to explore the collections through guided tours, activities and workshops.

Meanwhile, researchers can consult the works and documents in the drawing collection, housed in the former convent printing house.

The book and gift shop sells a wide variety of reproductions and postcards in connection with the museum’s collections.

Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Saint-Denis 
22 bis avenue Gabriel Péri - 93200 Saint-Denis
Tel.: +33 (0)1 42 43 05 10 - Bookings: +33 (0)1 42 43 37 57
Email: musee@ville-saint-denis.fr

Getting there

Metro (Line 13) - Station: Saint-Denis Porte de Paris (exit 4)
Bus: 154, 254, 177, 255, 170
Car: A1 and A86 - exit Saint-Denis Porte de Paris
Parking: Porte de Paris and Basilique

The Naval School of Medicine still looks the same today as it did in the middle of the 19th Century. The objects, works and the way the information is displayed, categorised and staged are just as scholars and doctors 150 years ago wanted. For 20th century visitors, the School of Medicine is primarily a place where they can experience a tangible contact with an exceptionally well preserved scientific imagination. It is a strong, emotional place, opening the doors to a dense history where science, technology, politics and society merge. It provides a glimpse of a state of knowledge that we have inherited. They are the footprints of human endeavour, through which sailors and navy surgeons contributed to breaking down taboos in order to unlock the secrets of the human body and grasp the living world in all its diversity. The history of the place The former School of Naval Medicine is located in a wing of the second Naval Hospital, which opened in Rochefort in 1788. Through its architecture, the building exhibits the latest developments in medicine with regard to the spread of diseases. In this respect it constitutes the first French attempt at multi-wing hospital architecture. It also demonstrates urban concerns in opening up a broad perspective that still influences the development of the town today.

The first naval hospital was opened in 1683, close to the naval shipyard and near the food store. It was inside its walls that Jean Cochon-Dupuy's School of Surgery was established in 1722. The building, still known today as the Charente Hospital, was gradually incorporated into the town. As it became surrounded by houses, it was the cause of numerous problems with epidemics. Typhoid and other fevers that the sailors brought back from their expeditions were transmitted to other patients and regularly spread to the general public. In the 1770's, medicine became concerned about air quality, its chemical composition and its role in spreading diseases. Too cramped and exposed to the unhealthy air from the marshland on which Rochefort is built, the hospital also presented a major fire hazard in the town centre: the destruction of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris in 1772 stuck in people's minds. As a result, in 1781 the king decided to build a new hospital. Pierre Toufaire, the engineer in charge of works on the port, designed a large scale project, on an enormous H-shaped blueprint comprising a central main building flanked by four wings, with the façade completed by two other wings. These wings were designed to contain patients with the same diseases in order to prevent their transmission. In addition, the skylight above the main building and the wide windows and dormers that let in sunlight created the circulation of air that was vital for the hygienists of the day. In terms of departments, Toufaire planned a rational organisation of the areas allocated to offices, doctors' bedrooms, chapels, treatment rooms and patient reception, as well as areas for training the sea-faring surgeons, who had the use of a theatre, an anatomy laboratory and a library. The Hospital was eventually supplied with running water via a fire hydrant and a system of waste water drainage. It was thus a model Hospital and the most modern in the Kingdom. Topographically, the Hospital is located outside the town centre on a small promontory that looks out over the flat Rochefort countryside. For this reason, it was known for a time as the Hôpital de la Butte (Hospital on the Mound). Toufaire included the building in a plan that linked it with the church of Notre-Dame, also called the Vieille Paroisse (currently the Archaeological Museum), thus opening up an enormous urban swathe that would become the Cours d'Ablois. Even today, after the demolition of the ramparts, this urban programme still influences the development of Rochefort. In use until 1983, the Naval Hospital was privatised in 1989. Only the Wing of the Former School of Medicine is now open to the public.
The school: a historical place Throughout the 17th Century, at the same time as a permanent navy was created in France, it was standard practice to have a surgeon on board warships. Surgeon, a manual profession, was therefore strongly distinct from doctor, an intellectual profession. This sector often included former barbers who knew how to use a few cutting tools and whose expertise was more than cursory. However, the emerging Navy had serious sanitary problems: the living conditions, poor diet and contagious tropical diseases caused a very high mortality rate in the crews. Up until the beginning of the 19th century, sailors were more likely to die from disease than from the after effects of combat. The increased length of campaigns along with the shifting of conflicts to the other side of the Atlantic increased the problems and led to the appearance of a disease that was to become the symbol of naval morbidity: scurvy. For the Navy, preserving the lives of its marines was a major strategic issue. Curing, understanding and transmitting became a matter of State, which was necessary for the very existence of a war fleet, such was the recurrent difficulty to recruit competent marines. In 1704, Jean-Cochon Dupuy, Doctor of Medicine at the faculty of Toulouse and a doctor at the military hospital of La Rochelle, arrived in Rochefort as deputy doctor. He became head doctor in 1712. In 1715, he demonstrated the need to establish a training centre for the surgeons of the Navy. The naval school of anatomy and surgery was inaugurated in 1722. It was the first in the world. Based on this model, the navy opened two other establishments, in Toulon in 1725 and in Brest in 1731. Jean-Cochon Dupuy worked as a teacher and organiser. He wrote anatomy and surgery manuals and set up the every day operation of the School. Requirements for admission were to be over 14 years old, be able to write, shave and bleed and have healthy hands without any deformities. Boys from poor families could therefore be accepted and in this respect the School played an important social role. Students visited patients in the hospital, watched dissections, took apothecary training and followed internal medicine, surgery and botany lessons, which were essential at a time when pharmaceutical drugs came almost exclusively from plants. The degree course was 4 years. Within the school, progression was through passing examinations, a measure of the seriousness of the courses. On the death of Jean-Cochon Dupuy in 1757, his son Gaspard succeeded him and continued his organisational work. At sea, surgeons trained by the School had to fulfil a threefold role, as surgeon, doctor and pharmacist and the course developed accordingly. Above all, the School confirmed its role in caring for patients in the hospital, in training and in research, three functions that are similar to the missions of modern day University Hospitals. Pierre Cochon-Duvivier, the School's third Director from 1788 to 1814, was subject to the upheavals of the Revolution and the Empire. A health council, a sort of Naval Hospital Administration Council, was set up. The completely restructured School reaffirmed its fundamental missions of treatment, training and research. In 1798, it took the name of the School of Naval Medicine and the apothecaries became pharmacists. In 1803, former students of the schools of naval medicine were allowed to adopt the title of Doctor of Medicine by studying for a thesis at the faculty, an essential stage in the promotion of surgery. The curriculum followed that of the civilian schools.
In 1836, new regulations put the emphasis on exotic diseases, anatomy, surgery and naval hygiene in the study programme. Botany was also a speciality of Rochefort. In fact, the training programme was quite broad-based and endeavoured to turn health officials into professionals, whose knowledge lay somewhere between that of the encyclopaedic scientist of the Enlightenment and the highly specialised practices of today. The School was thus far more than just a medical arena, operating as a regional intellectual centre and a place where knowledge was gathered and disseminated. The works in the library and the ethnographic collections bear witness to this. The School was in contact with the whole of the European medical and scientific milieu. Understanding diseases, unlocking the secrets of the human body and improving operating techniques were all amongst its objectives when it was created: dissections, experiments and discussion were the driving forces of the continual quest for cures. It was in Rochefort in 1818 that the first French vaccine was administered, a few months after its development by Jenner; it was one of the School's directors, Amédé Lefebvre, who discovered the causes of lead poisoning in 1818; less dramatic but just as significant, several surgical instruments were designed or improved by doctors at the School. In 1890 the Bordeaux School for the Health Service was founded, close to a civilian faculty. The schools of Brest, Rochefort and Toulon became associated establishments where students completed their first year before transferring to Bordeaux. Between 1890 and 1963, the subsidiary schools operated with a certain uniformity. In 1964, the Rochefort School of Naval Medicine held its final course.
The Wing of the Former School of Medicine: a historical site The building, its library and its collections were managed by the Navy until the closure of the naval hospital in 1983. The Wing of the Former School of Medicine was donated to the Public Administrative Department of the National Navy Museum in 1986, who undertook its renovation. The School of Medicine opened to the public in 1998, entering a new phase in its history. The School of Naval Medicine is a unique place in France, with its library and anatomical, zoological, botanical and ethnological collections that were assembled in the 18th century to be used in training the surgeons on board ships. It is both a museum (its collections are of primary importance), a historic monument (today it is the only part of the former Naval Hospital of 1788 open to the public), a scientific library (its 25,000 works, of which many were printed before 1500, are available to everyone by appointment) and a place of remembrance (an area of discovery, learning and healing, engraved deeply in the history of the people of Rochefort and of the Navy). For the Navy, the fight against the diseases that ravaged its crews, of which scurvy is only the best known, was one major strategic issue. The voyages of discovery and their batches of samples bear witness to a slow learning process about other populations.
Former School of Naval Medicine of Rochefort 25, rue de l'Amiral Meyer 17300 Rochefort Tel.: + 33 (0) 5 46 99 59 57 E-mail: d.roland@musee-marine.fr [list]Guided tours, every day at 10:30 - Duration: 1:15 Adult: € 8 Reduced price: € 7 Under 26: 3 € [list]Guided discovery, daily at 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00 Adult: € 5 Reduced: € 4 Free for children under 26. [list]Closed annually on the 1st May, 25th December and the 1st and 31st January Getting there Rochefort-Saint Agnant Airport Rochefort Railway Station TGV to Surgères and SNCF bus service or change at La Rochelle A10 Motorway from Paris to Bordeaux, taking the Surgères or Saint-Jean-d'Angély Rochefort exit: follow signs for town centre

Built on a rocky outcrop, Brest Castle dominates the Penfeld River and the harbour. It stands on a major strategic site whose importance as such was recognised as early as the 3rd century, when the Romans set up base there to protect the province of Armorique from Frankish and Saxon pirates.

In the twelfth century, the counts of Léon restored the old bases left by the Romans and a small town surrounding a chapel was established within its walls, a town that grew into the Brest we know today! During the Hundred Years' War, the castle was occupied by the English and besieged by Duguesclin. Anne of Brittany also stayed there in 1505 during a pilgrimage. In the seventeenth century, under pressure from Richelieu and Colbert for Brest to become the French Royal Navy's major arsenal on the Atlantic coast, it was decided that the castle's defences needed to be improved. The architect Vauban then transformed it into a veritable citadel, and the town grew below it. In a town that had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the fierce raids of 1944, the castle is the last remaining testimony to centuries past.
The Castle has been constantly adapted to changes in siege tactics and weaponry. It needed to be able to resist two types of attack: those from the sea, but mostly those from the land. Consequently, its architecture is complex and additions were frequently made to it over time. Parts of the Roman walls are still visible, and the Paradis Towers have preserved their medieval character (pepper-box roofs and machicolation). But in its current state, the castle remains characteristic of the defensive fortification architecture developed by Vauban, in particular to respond to the use of siege artillery. For seventeen centuries, from Roman encampment to its role as a naval base, the destiny of the Castle has been linked to the sea, the history of a town, a province and an entire country.
There has been a small museum in the arsenal since the beginning of the nineteenth century: a room devoted to models is home to many sculptures and historic model ships. Fortunately, these collections were stowed away during World War II and thus spared. They now form part of the National Maritime Museum network in Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort, Toulon and Paris. In 1958, a new museum was established in the castle, the museum that is today visited by the public. Not to be missed are the masterpieces of maritime heritage and culture, the naval history of Brest, the castle's historic rooms and the exceptional views of the harbour and the Penfeld River.
The dungeon houses permanent collections devoted to the golden era of naval construction, as well as the penal system, weapons and scientific instruments. The temporary exhibitions (photos, paintings, case studies) are presented in the Paradis Towers, while the Madeleine Tower displays more modern naval history. Visitors can also see the S622 submarine, an example of a Seehund pocket submarine, and a boat-people vessel.
The Museum offers a series of themed tours for children at the entrance. For its temporary exhibitions, the Museum proposes a discovery tour for children. Booklets on a certain theme and questionnaires designed for children aged 8 and over are available for visitors not part of an organised tour ("Tonnerre de Brest!" a visit questionnaire based on the collections on display at Brest Castle; "Au vent de Suroît" a visit questionnaire based on the history of Brest Castle Museum) For youngsters and adults: - Guided tours all year round for groups on appointment. During the summer months, individual visitors can also follow a guided commentary at fixed times. - Greeting and training for teachers Entry is free for any teachers wishing to prepare a class trip to the Museum.
Musée National de la Marine Château de Brest 29200 Brest Tél. : 02.98.22.12.39 Fax: 02.98.43.30.54 E-Mail: [email = brest@musee-marine.fr] brest@musee-marine.fr [/ email]