Marquèze, Ecomuseum in Sabres, France.
Marquèze is an open-air museum spanning several hectares in Sabres, displaying authentic buildings and agricultural landscapes from the 1800s. The site is laid out like a working village, complete with homes, barns, a chapel, and craft workshops that show how people lived and worked in this rural area.
The site opened in 1970 as France's first open-air museum dedicated to saving the rural heritage of the Landes region from disappearing. Founders collected buildings, tools, and everyday objects from across the area to create a living record of how families lived before modern changes transformed the countryside.
Seasonal events and craft demonstrations bring the site to life, where visitors watch how resin was tapped from pine trees and bread baked in communal ovens. These activities reveal the daily rhythms and skills that shaped life in the Landes countryside generations ago.
A vintage train carries visitors from the reception area to the museum grounds, making the experience easier for those with limited mobility. The site is relatively flat with marked paths, though comfortable walking shoes are recommended as you may spend a couple of hours exploring.
The grounds maintain a living collection of rare heritage animal breeds that were once central to farming in the Landes, from heavy horses to specialized sheep. These animals are now nearly extinct in their original form, offering visitors a glimpse into agricultural life that exists nowhere else.
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