The Salon et de la Crau museum is located at Salon-de-Provence, in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
It is housed in the Château de l'Empéri, a fortress built in the 11th century on the Puech rock which dominates the old center and the Crau plain. The site was the residence of the archbishops of Arles until the Revolution after having been that of the Germanic emperors, which explains its name.
In addition to a museum devoted to an exceptional collection dedicated to military history (weapons, objects, uniforms and documents ranging from Louis XIV to the First World War), the castle presents, within the museum of Salon and Crau, collections intended to be representative of life in Salon, from antiquity to the 20th century. Various fields such as archaeology, the oil and soap industry, agriculture or religious art are evoked.
The collection was made up of the collection of works, documents and objects kept by the Musée du Vieux Salon and the municipal painting museum, both created in the 1930s.
The establishment therefore aims to be the heir to the society museums (of ethnography and local history) that appeared in the 19th century…
Currently being restructured, the museum presents during this period the entire legacy of the painter Théodore Jourdan to the city. The public can better understand the Salonais master and the landscapes that inspired him, through some of his oils on canvas, including twenty large format ones, as well as numerous drawings.
Before or after visiting the museum, possible access to the gardens and terraces of the castle. Open Tuesday to Sunday. Free admission. Information on +33 4 90 44 72 80.
