Pyrenean Museum

All the valleys united

At the heart of the castle grounds, the Pyrenean Museum presents a rich collection that traces the history of the Pyrenees in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with a tour of the ethnographic collections and an exceptional collection on the Pyrenean movement, considering the physical experience of the mountains as inseparable from aesthetic and cultural emotion.

Alongside scenes of reconstructed domestic interiors (Béarnaise kitchen and Bigorre bedroom), the life of the Pyrenees is told through objects linked to agropastoralism or the wool industry, in festive costumes or in beliefs with mourning wax figures.

In the Notre-Dame chapel of the castle, there is remarkable furniture from the old parish church of Lourdes, which bears witness to 18th century Baroque religious art in the Pyrenees.

A time of escape and relaxation

Take a stroll through the museum's garden, a haven of greenery and color, adorned with sculptures and architectural models of the Pyrenean valleys. On the garden terrace, in the shade of the plane trees and sheltered by the fortress walls, treat yourself to a moment of rest and relaxation while overlooking the city.

Louis and Margalide Le Bondidier: the founding couple of the Pyrenean Museum

This couple from Lorraine, Louis and Margalide Le Bondidier, arrived in the Pyrenees for a professional transfer and fell in love with these mountains as soon as they arrived.
From Mont-Perdu to Vignemale , Louis and Margalide made a series of ascents, achieving firsts. As renowned Pyreneists , two summits bear their names: Pic Le Bondidier and Pic Margalide.

Curiosity about the culture of their adopted region drives them to get involved, each in their own way, in Pyrenean institutions, tourism and ethnographic research.

In 1921, they created a museum in the castle, which was inaugurated in 1922 under the motto "Nothing Pyrenean should be foreign to us." Louis was the curator, and Margalide assisted him in the museum's design.

The museum's successive directors up to the present day have perpetuated this ambitious program of promoting the heritage of the Pyrenees mountain range, keeping in mind the cross-border concept and opening up questions about today's mountain environment, an exceptionally rich area that needs to be preserved. Today, the museum is managed by the City of Lourdes.

A documentation and research center on the Pyrenees is accessible by reservation.

Join the Friends of the Pyrenean Museum

Created by the museum's founders, the Friends of the Pyrenean Museum association brings together contemporary Pyrenees figures dedicated to illustrating the many facets of the Pyrenees mountain range and the relationship between man and the mountains. The association collaborates closely with the museum's activities (conferences, publications) and its development (acquisitions, donations, journal exchanges). It is an essential partner.

The quarterly magazine "Pyrénées" reports on and brings to life the history, culture, and current events of our mountains. You can purchase it at the museum shop.

You can join the association and participate in its dynamism.

https://www.revue-pyrenees.com .