The Sainte-Croix museum is located at Poitiers, in the Vienne department.
It was built in 1974 in the center of the city, near the cathedral, on the site of the former Sainte-Croix abbey now located in the town of Saint-Benoît, to the south.
Built in concrete and glass according to plans by the architect Jean Monge, close to Le Corbusier, the establishment has a collection of more than a million items (vestiges, documents, works).
He is the heir to the municipal museum founded in 1820 dedicated to archaeology, numismatics and the fine arts, which has long been housed in the hotel. The collections have been enriched by donations, such as that made by the Society of Antiquaries of the West but also by the fund of the Robert-de-Chièvres museum, closed in 2009, and which occupied the former Augustinian convent.
The Sainte-Croix museum has several sections or departments. This brings together vestiges and treasures from prehistory and protohistory (from - 12,000 to - 100 BC). The engraved plaques from the cave of La Marche de Lussac-les-Châteaux are presented there.
Next comes Gallo-Roman Antiquity with its remains unearthed during the construction of the museum itself, but also treasures evoking the past of Poitiers (then called Limonum) or the Chevanceaux treasure.
The Middle Ages are also in good place with the sculptures of the hypogeum of the Dunes, a Merovingian site on the heights of Poitiers, or sculpted decorations, paintings and blown glass representing Romanesque art.
As far as the Fine Arts are concerned, the schools of the past (Flanders, Italy) and the 19th and 20th centuries are particularly highlighted. The chronological route dedicated to the 19th century, for example, allows you to admire neo-classical works, an important set of sculptures by Camille Claudel and, for the 20th century, the interwar period is particularly in the spotlight.
Among the many artistic treasures to admire, let us mention an "Allegory of the Night" by Brueghel (17th century), "Madeleine in ecstasy" after Caravaggio (17th century), works by Claudel, Rodin or even Mondrian and Max Ernest.
Workshops, conferences, events for young audiences are regularly offered. Open Tuesday to Sunday. Price: 2.50 and 5 euros. Information on +33 5 49 41 07 53.