When Jean-François Séguier, a Nîmes scholar, returned to live in Nîmes in 1770 after a long and productive trip in Europe, he never imagined that one of France’s richest museums would be born from his collections.
Inaugurated in 1895, the Muséum de Nîmes is the biggest in the Languedoc region and ranked 6th nationally for its rich collections.
Laid out in a cloister and listed chapel dating back to the 17th century, the collection covers the natural sciences and certain social science fields. A complete renovation is planned, but in the meantime only three themes are exhibited: prehistory, ethnography as conceived in the 1930s and zoology.
The gallery and temporary exhibition spaces of the museum explain topical scientific questions using the museum’s rich collection.
The Muséum de Nîmes now includes the natural history museum and the planetarium. Thanks to temporary exhibitions and many scientific workshops, the Nîmes museum is a major site for scientific culture in the region.
Settle back in a comfortable seat and watch a fascinating show of the universe at Nîmes planetarium. Projected with an orrery, a special instrument which moves the moon, planets and stars around in a vault over a 65-seat theatre, you embark on a dreamy distant voyage. Other fixed and moving images - often spectacular - show the immense diversity of the celestial bodies. An amazing voyage through space and time. A relaxing, poetic and educational experience.
The planetarium caters for all ages.
