Se cultiver dans les Landes : top 5 des musées
Today you are determined, you will not walk around the Sanguinet Lake, you will not learn how to surf, and you will not laze around in the wellness area of the Oréades ! No, you won’t ! Today you have decided to cultivate your mind in the Landes!

The département of the Landes is not particularly renowned for its cultural background but rather for its beaches and its land; nevertheless there are numerous museums. It is the occasion to go to discover a culture and ancestral traditions. Here are the different museums you can visit.

1. The Arthous Abbey Museum in Hastingues

The area of the exhibition with diversified experiences (virtual tours, manipulations…) proposes a tour through time to the visitors with emotions and surprises.
Interactive terminals, films, panels, original objects such as exceptional Magdalenian sculptures of horses, make you discover the heritage of the land of Orthe from the period of the prehistoric mankind in Sorde until the last agricultural innovations.
A huge panoramic screen invites the visitor to an initiatory journey in the land of Orthe, with a prehistoric hunter, a pilgrim of the Middle Ages or a boatman of the 19th century.

2. The earthenware and tableware Museum in Samadet.

The town of Samadet is renowned for its earthenware produced between 1732 and 1840 in the factory: « La Manufacture royale de fayance ». The pieces with forms and the flat ones can be recognized thanks to their white and thick enamel which characterized their origin from Aquitaine. The most represented objects are floral patterns (carnations and forget-me-nots), animals (birds, insects) or scenes or rural life.
Since 1968, this living museum has participated in research, knowledge, edition and exhibition programmes about the regional ceramic productions and it has led a policy of active acquisition and it enriches its collections with deposits, donations or purchases.
Therefore, an exceptional collection of more than 800 pieces has been collected including ceramics, glasswork, silver-work, graphic arts or even textile.

3. The Marquèze Ecomuseum in Sabres

The Marquèze Museum located in the village of Sabres reflects the agro pastoral system and life in the Haute Lande at the end of the 19th century. It has been reconstructed mainly in its original physiognomy, period of transition between the lande and the forest leading to a deep change on the way of life; period when also the train, brought by the needs of the industrial forest, came to disturb the quietness of these places and break their isolation.
You will find in a perfect reconstruction:

  • The ploughman house;
  • The shepherd house ;
  • The resin collector house ;
  • The miner house ;
  • The mille ;
  • An historic train: As soon as you arrive at the former railway station, go aboard the historic train which will bring you to the village of Marquèze. The traditional houses, the activities and demonstrations of their skills, the landscapes and the very unique atmosphere of the place will take you on a fascinating journey.

4. The historic seaplane Museum in Biscarrosse

The Seaplane museum, located at the mythical place of the former Latécoère Air Base, relates the history of worldwide seaplane activity from the first flight in 1910 until nowadays. Enter the legend and go on board to a journey throughout the different eras. Thanks to this unique collection you will discover with great pleasure one of the great moments of the French aircraft.

5. The Lake Museum in Sanguinet

Under the calm water of our lake, you must imagine three villages, and also more than thirty pirogues and different engulfed objects.
With an organized tour around three themes (sand, man and water), the museum invites you to discover or discover again:

  • The history of the formation of the lakes of the Aquitaine coast;
  • Life of the people in Sanguinet from 1500 BC to the 4th century, through an outstanding archaeological heritage: the villages, the everyday life objects, the pirogues…;
  • The aquatic life in the lake and its ecosystem.

The visitor can also discover the vestiges of:

  • Losa, Gallo-Roman village ;
  • L’Estey de Large, housing dating from the 2nd century BC. ;
  • Put Blanc, fishing village dating from the 6th century BC..

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