Bastion Museum, Art museum and fortified castle in Menton, France
The Bastion Museum is an art space housed in a former coastal fortress at Menton's harbor wall. It displays drawings, paintings, lithographs, tapestries, and ceramics from Cocteau's time on the French Riviera.
The building started as a coastal fort built in the 17th century and completed around 1636, with spaces for guards, provisions, and ammunition. Decades later, Cocteau converted the abandoned structure into a museum that opened in 1966.
The museum holds works that Cocteau selected himself, showing his deep connection to the Mediterranean region. The rooms display his artistic language through motifs that appear repeatedly across different mediums.
The museum sits right at the harbor and is easy to find from downtown, with clear signs marking the way. Visitors should know that access involves narrow passages, and the rooms within the old fortress are fairly compact.
Cocteau decorated the walls and alcoves with intricate pebble mosaics that he designed and crafted with local artisans. This decoration turned the austere fortress into a personal artistic statement before opening to the public.
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