Musée de l'Ardenne, Regional history museum in Charleville-Mézières, France

The Musée de l'Ardenne combines 17th-century stone buildings with modern glass and steel additions, displaying archaeological finds, historical weapons, and local crafts across its interconnected spaces. The layout guides visitors naturally from one section to another, each presenting a different aspect of regional life and history.

The museum occupies one of the 26 pavilions of the Place Ducale, built in the 17th century under the architect Clément II Métezeau. The building was classified as a monument historique in 1944 and registered in 1980. Renovated by architects François Peiffer, Bruno Freycenon, Franck Plays and Christian Vanelle, with a glass-and-steel extension, it reopened as a museum on 20 October 1994, with 3,400 square metres of galleries.

Charleville-Mézières calls itself the world capital of puppetry, and two rooms hold over 350 puppets from around the world, shown with their techniques and with creations by contemporary makers. From the interiors you can watch the mechanism of the automaton clock called "le grand marionnettiste", which plays every hour on place Winston-Churchill. A thematic puppet exhibition accompanies each edition of the Festival mondial des théâtres de marionnettes.

The museum occupies buildings from the 17th to the 20th century arranged around an interior courtyard and garden, and a public passage links Place Ducale to Place Winston-Churchill. The chronological route starts in the basement with the archaeology collections and continues upward through the floors. Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday 10:00–12:00 and 14:00–18:00, and 14:00–18:00 at weekends, closed on public holidays.

In the auditorium on the ground floor, a Gallo-Roman fresco measuring 6 by 8 metres, found in the Montcy-Saint-Pierre district, is shown with a virtual reconstruction projected by video mapping. The basement holds remains from two chariot tombs, those of Bourcq and Semide.