Musée Basque et de l'Histoire de Bayonne

The Musée Basque et de l'Histoire de Bayonne, housed in a 17th-century mansion (the Maison Dagourette) on the banks of the Nive river in the heart of Bayonne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is one of the most important ethnographic and historical museums in France dedicated to a regional culture. Founded in 1924 and reopened after a major renovation in 2001, the museum documents the material culture, traditions, language, and history of the Basque people across the French and Spanish Basque Country, as well as the specific history of Bayonne as a fortified city and Atlantic trading port. The collection spans more than 1,300 square metres of galleries across three floors of the mansion and its modern extension. Thematic sections address Basque rural life — farm architecture, pastoral culture, fishing, whaling, and seafaring — alongside the extraordinary breadth of Basque material culture: traditional costumes, hand-crafted furniture, ironwork, ceramics, and musical instruments. A gallery dedicated to Basque sports and games includes rare pelota equipment and documentation of the regional sporting tradition. Specific rooms address the history of Bayonne itself: its role as a Gallo-Roman settlement (Lapurdum), its fortification by Vauban in the 17th century, its importance in the Atlantic chocolate trade (Bayonne was the first city in France to produce chocolate, introduced by Sephardic Jewish refugees from the Iberian Peninsula in the 17th century), and its strategic role during the Napoleonic Wars. The museum also holds significant collections of traditional Basque woodcarving, steles discoïdales (the characteristic disc-shaped Basque funerary stelae), and a library of Basque language and literature resources. Admission is €7 for adults.