Musées Gadagne (Musée d'Histoire de Lyon)

The Musées Gadagne occupy a pair of linked Renaissance mansions at 1 Place du Petit Collège in Vieux Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The buildings take their name from the Gadagne family, Florentine bankers who settled in Lyon and acquired the property in 1545, at the time when Lyon was a major financial centre. The complex grew from an earlier medieval house and was later used as a town hall and a hospital before being turned into a museum, and a restoration completed in 2009 reorganised the galleries around the courtyard and added a rooftop terrace with views over the city. The Musée d'Histoire de Lyon traces the city from the Middle Ages to the present in a sequence of rooms, using paintings, maps, models, furniture, silk, ceramics and objects of daily life. It covers the fairs, printing, the silk industry, the Revolution and the siege of 1793, and the growth of modern Lyon. The Musée des Marionnettes du Monde presents puppetry from Europe, Asia and Africa and is linked to Guignol, the Lyon glove puppet created in the early 19th century by Laurent Mourguet, a silk worker turned puppeteer. The collection includes Guignol figures and puppets from around the world. The courtyard, galleries and vaulted rooms retain Renaissance architecture, including stairs and mullioned windows. Educational activities and temporary exhibitions complement the permanent collection. The museums stand a short walk from the Primatiale Saint-Jean and the traboules of Vieux Lyon, and they form part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Site of Lyon. Opening is Wednesday to Sunday, and visitors should confirm times and ticket prices on the museum website before arriving.