Musée de Dourdan, Medieval castle museum in Dourdan, France

The Musée de Dourdan is housed in the 13th-century Philippian castle begun around 1222, in the châtelet, the former salt granary built in 1743 and the east corner tower of the walls. A modern building added in the courtyard in 2019 holds the reception, where a glass floor reveals a 13th-century well found during the 2018 archaeological survey.

The castle was built in 1222 under King Philip Augustus and replaced an earlier wooden fortress with stronger stone walls and towers. It later served as a royal prison before eventually becoming a museum to preserve the region's past.

The museum spreads across the 13th-century gatehouse, the former salt store built in 1743 on the site of an older barn, and the east corner tower of the walls. A modern building added in the courtyard in 2019 holds the reception, where a glass floor reveals a 13th-century well found during the 2018 archaeological survey.

The museum is split between historic rooms in the 13th-century castle and a modern building in the courtyard, inaugurated in 2019. The two parts stand a few metres apart, so allow time to move between them. In the new building's reception, a glass floor reveals a 13th-century well found during the 2018 archaeological survey.

The museum's modern building, completed in 2019, rests on a glass floor that reveals a 13th-century well found during a 2018 archaeological survey. The well had to be kept beneath the new construction, so visitors now walk over it in the reception area.