Museum of Marionnettes, museum in France

The Museum of Marionnettes is a museum in Lyon, France, dedicated entirely to the art of puppetry and is the only one of its kind in the country. It houses over 300 puppets and objects that show the history of puppet-making and performance, with hands-on areas where visitors can touch, dismantle, and reassemble puppets to understand their construction.

The oldest known puppet was discovered in what is now the Czech Republic and dates back approximately 25,000 years, showing that humans have been creating figures to tell stories since prehistoric times. Lyon's own puppet tradition, centered around characters like Guignol, developed later and became an important part of the city's local entertainment culture.

The museum takes its name from Guignol, the Lyonnais silk worker created as a puppet character by Laurent Mourguet around 1808. Guignol speaks in the Lyon dialect and is shown alongside his companions Gnafron and Madelon. Visitors can see how the figure moved from canut workshops to the city's theatres and how puppeteers still perform with him today.

The museum is open year-round on specific days, mainly Wednesday through Friday and weekends from late morning until early evening, and is closed on major holidays. The location is easy to reach via the Vieux-Lyon metro station, several nearby bus stops, and is accessible by bike or on foot through the old city.

Visitors can use a small stage with a curtain in the hands-on workshop area to create and perform their own puppet show while guided by experienced mentors. This interactive experience turns the visit into an active event and offers insight into the work of puppeteers and puppet makers.