Musée de Dourdan, Medieval castle museum in Dourdan, France
The Musée de Dourdan occupies a stone castle with multiple exhibition rooms that display archaeological finds and local artifacts from the surrounding region. The collections are organized throughout different sections of the building, showing objects from various historical periods.
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 collections display weapons, furniture, and objects from different periods that show how daily life changed over the centuries. Walking through the rooms, you notice how people lived and worked in this area across time.
The building is straightforward to navigate and the exhibitions are spread across several levels within the castle structure. It helps to allow enough time to explore the different rooms and wear comfortable shoes while moving through the spaces.
The building served as a royal prison from 1672 until 1852 and later as a municipal detention center before becoming a museum. This long period as a place of confinement left its mark on the fortress walls and layout.
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