Musée de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Rural architecture museum in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France.
The Musée de plein air de Villeneuve-d'Ascq is an open-air museum with around 50 buildings relocated from northern French regions. The collection includes farmhouses, cottages, workshops, and other rural structures arranged across spacious green grounds.
The museum was established in 1981 to preserve northern French rural architecture before these buildings faced demolition. Since then, hundreds of structures have been carefully dismantled and reconstructed at the new site to protect this heritage.
The buildings reveal how people lived and worked in rural villages through their rooms, tools, and layouts. Walking through each structure shows the daily rhythms of farming families and craftspeople in the region.
The grounds are spacious and require comfortable shoes for walking between buildings spread across the site. Shaded areas under trees and picnic spots are available if you want to rest during your visit.
Some buildings were restored with original materials like thatched roofs or mud bricks to keep their authentic appearance. These reconstructions reveal building techniques and materials that are rarely used in modern construction.
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