Well here I go again, been at home makes you think about where you have been and take a closer look at my blog. Well as usual i write on the many places visited and as always never quite tell all! Nantes is a city that is like one of my homes, not only for the visits with the family and friends that live there but on my business trips as well; needless to say been all over. However, there is so much beautiful things to write about my belle France that oh well here is another, the Dobrée museum of Nantes.
I have visited the very nice and rich Dobrée museum with works from the middle ages to the 20C showing a large selection of archeological objects going from the 1C just to the Carolingian period as well as housing the box of where it was place the heart of Anne de Bretagne (duchess of Brittany, and queen of France). The Musée Dobrée belongs to the Loire-Atlantique departmental council since 1895. It is located in the city center of Nantes, in the Graslin district, (see post on theater here) and the Cours Cambronne.
The Thomas Dobrée museum opened its doors to the public for the first time on January 8, 1899 in Nantes. It assembled the collections of two museums set up to perpetuate important collections by entrusting them to a public authority. The departmental museum of Archeology proceeds from the donation to the Loire Atlantique Department, in 1860, of the collections then collected by the Archaeological and Historical Society of Nantes and Loire-Inférieur, founded in 1845, whose head office is still located at the manor of the Touche, in Nantes. The Thomas Dobrée museum results from the donation and the legacy made in 1894 by Thomas II Dobrée , Protestant shipowner and merchant born of a Norman family who fled the wars of religion in Guernsey , become renter and collector , passionate about the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In 1862, Thomas Dobrée acquired the enclosure of the Episcopal manor of La Touche , also called Jean V manor 15-to 19C. On this plot, he built his Romanesque house between 1862 and 1898 to house and present his collection, a private residence entrusted to the Loire Atlantique Department to make it the Thomas Dobrée museum.
To the existing buildings, the Manoir de la Touche, the Dobrée palace 19C and the gardener’s house 19C, were added. In 1972-1973, a third building, the Voltaire building, which housed the conservation, documentation, permanent exhibition of regional archaeology, the auditorium, underground galleries and some reserves. The buildings of the Dobrée palace and the Manoir de la Touche offer a strong and structuring architecture in a district of Nantes rich in heritage and historical monuments. Indeed great walking area!
The 10 departments that the Dobrée museum is divided are the National archaeology, Mediterranean archaeology; Extra-European arts; Numismatics and sigillography; Fine arts and works of art; Sculptures; Graphic arts; Autographs and archives; Manuscripts, incunabula and rare editions and Military archaeology.
During the night of April 13 to 14, 2018, the museum was the victim of the break-in and the Anne of Brittany’s heart case was stolen. On April 21, 2018, the reliquary as well as the other stolen objects were found by the police in the Saint-Nazaire region . Restored to the Dobrée museum in September 2018, the jewel case of Anne de Bretagne’s heart will once again be exposed to the public in 2022. While the museum itself undergoing renovation, the new museum will open its doors in 2021.
It is wonderfully done architectural marvel ,in fact walking to it was seen more like a palace than a museum really very distinct Nantaise building style too. Most of the information above taken from the Grand Heritage of the Loire Atlantique museums which is given here in English: Grand Patrimoine Loire Atlantique on the Musée Dobrée
The Nantes tourist office has more on the Dobrée museum in English: Tourist office of Nantes on the Dobrée Museum
This is a magnificent charming area of Nantes to even walks and see the wonderful architecture of buildings all around you, not to miss the Dobrée museum. Hope you enjoy the brief tour.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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