Museums and exhibition venues
Toulouse is a city of art and culture. You can visit numerous museums and exhibitions with a variety of themes! Fine arts of course, but also exciting scientific discoveries and surprising curiosities.
Museums of art and history
Step back in time at the Saint-Raymond museum, the archaeological museum of Toulouse. Next to the basilica of Saint-Sernin, this charming museum and its little garden occupies a former university college from the XVI Century. Whilst it focuses on the historic past of the Ville Rose, it is nevertheless resolutely modern and original in terms of its scenography and exhibitions.
Lovers of « High Art » and sculpture should head to the Augustins museum, the museum of fine-arts of the city of Toulouse. Housed within an ancient XIV Century monastery, its collections are presented in magnificent rooms and a medieval cloister. Here you can admire the great names in the history of art from the Middle Ages to the early XX Century. Not to be missed: the room displaying one of the finest collections of Romanesque capitals in France. The museum is currently closed for works. The museum is due to reopen in autumn 2025.
The Bemberg Foundation displays paintings and decorative arts from the XVI to XIX Century at the most beautiful mansion house in Toulouse; the Hôtel d’Assézat, a masterpiece of the Renaissance. Here the Argentinian collector Georges Bemberg brought together the great names in the history of modern art with an entire room devoted to the artist Bonnard. The Bemberg Foundation is currently closed for renovations. The Bemberg Foundation is closed for works.
The Château d’Eau gallery overlooks one end of the Pont-Neuf from its left bank. It was established by illustrious local photographer Jean Dieuzaide and is dedicated to photography. This is a place where enthusiasts are keen to present the great names in photography as well as emerging talents.
Les Abattoirs museum of modern and contemporary art took up residence in the former abattoir of the city of Toulouse and still bears its name. 3,000m² of exhibition space is given over to contemporary art and exhibitions that take place throughout the year. For lovers of art books, the museum boasts a beautiful bookshop.
Museums of scientific discoveries
Whilst Toulouse is a city that adores art, it also delights in adventure and has always been at the cutting edge of countless scientific fields. Relive these extraordinary adventures through interactive displays that turn the visitor into the main protagonist of these discoveries.
Become an explorer at the Natural History Museum, an aviator in the footsteps of Saint-Exupéry at the Envol des Pionniers (Flight of the Pioneers), a modern-day pilot at Aeroscopia, an astronaut at the Cité de l’espace.
Precious arts and curiosities
The “Musée des Arts Précieux” Paul-Dupuy displays works from the Middle Ages to the late 1930s. You can admire a fine collection of clocks and watches, a reconstruction of a 17th-century pharmacy and a collection of medieval religious treasures.
