Soum Museum in Saint-Véran

In Saint-Véran, Queyras, the highest commune in the Hautes Alpes and in Europe, where roosters peck at the stars....

There was a house dating back to the 17th century - built in 1641 under the reign of Louis XIII to be precise - miraculously spared from the many fires that devastated the village over the centuries.

There was also an association of friends who were natives of Saint-Véran and in love with their village. They were also collectors in a way, and dreamed of presenting the treasures they had accumulated from the past to the public in a museum.

In 1993, they bought this house, the oldest in Saint-Véran, with its exceptionally well-preserved traditional architecture, and created the Musée du Soum.

A house transformed into a museumLife in the Queyras of yesteryearAlso in the Queyras
Le musée du soum dans la plus ancienne maison de Saint-Véran (Hautes Alpes)
Le musée du soum dans la plus ancienne maison de Saint-Véran (Hautes Alpes)
La cour avec son sol fait de rondins de mélèze juxtaposés qui isolent remarquablement du froid.
La cour avec son sol fait de rondins de mélèze juxtaposés qui isolent remarquablement du froid.

In this house-turned-museum, everything had a purpose, to meet the needs that the harsh environment had imposed on mountain dwellers for centuries.

All the activities of daily life and work on the land are concentrated here.

As you walk through the floors of the Soum Museum ... You can see the common room where the men lived with their livestock,

  • the fougagne, the room where the fire was built, often the kitchen
  • the greenhouse, where bread was stored and baked only twice a year,
  • thecarpenter's workshop,
  • thesheepfold ,
  • ........... and much more besides.
L'établi et les outils
L'établi et les outils
La fougagne, pièce où l'on faisait du feu
La fougagne, pièce où l'on faisait du feu

This house and the museum it houses have belonged to the Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras (Hautes Alpes) since 2006.

Enseigne de la Maison du Costume à Abriès (Queyras, Hautes Alpes)
Enseigne de la Maison du Costume à Abriès (Queyras, Hautes Alpes)

LIFE IN THE OLDEN DAYS IN QUEYRAS

If you were interested in visiting this museum and would like to know more about traditional dress, take a look at the Maison du Costume in Abriès en Queyras, near Ristolas. You won't be disappointed.

And if you'd like to find out what life was like for schoolchildren in days gone by, a visit to the Brunissard school museum in Arvieux en Queyras (Hautes Alpes) will enchant you: old books, old benches, old notebooks and that everlasting smell of chalk.

Also in the Queyras region

  • the old copper mine at Saint-Véran, an open-air museum unique in the Hautes Alpes.
  • theArche des Cîmes in Ristolas, a flora and fauna museum run by the Queyras Regional Nature Park, featuring daytime and nocturnal animals from the Hautes Alpes
Concasseur à mâchoires
Concasseur à mâchoires

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