Conservatoire d'anatomie, University museum in Faculty of Medicine, Montpellier, France.
The Conservatoire d'anatomie is a university museum within Montpellier's Faculty of Medicine that holds more than 13,000 anatomical objects. The collection includes dissection subjects, wax models, plaster casts, and surgical instruments from different periods of medical practice.
The museum opened in 1852 within a gallery designed by architect Pierre-Charles Abric, displaying collections assembled since the Faculty of Medicine's founding in 1795. The collection grew steadily as the university continued to add specimens and instruments throughout the following decades.
The collection reflects how doctors taught anatomy in Montpellier and how teaching methods evolved over time. Visitors can observe what medical education looked like in earlier periods and understand the tools physicians used in their practice.
The museum is currently closed for renovations and is expected to reopen in 2025. Future visits will only be available through guided tours organized by Montpellier's tourism office.
A remarkable aspect of the collection is that medical students were required to present an anatomical specimen in order to earn their degree. This practice led to continuous enrichment of the collection through quality work produced by successive generations of physicians.
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