Museum of Orange - History and Facts | History Hit

Museum of Orange

Orange, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France

The Museum of Orange is a museum of mostly Roman, but also prehistoric, artefacts found in the region.

Image Credit: Alamy

About Museum of Orange

The Museum of Orange (Musee D’Orange) is an archaeological museum across the road from the UNESCO-listed Roman Theatre of Orange.

Museum of Orange history

The town of Orange has a rich Roman history. Famous for its ancient monuments, the town is well known throughout Europe. However, the occupation of the territory began before the foundation of the Roman colony.

The Museum of Orange is located in a private mansion built in the 17th century for Georges Van Cuyl. The Dutchman was responsible for the munitions at the castle of the princes of Orange, which stood at the summit of Saint-Eutrope hill above the theatre.

Museum of Orange today

Today the Museum of Orange is home to a rich collection of furniture and art objects, recounting the history of Orange from Classical Antiquity to the 19th century.

You can admire the mosaic of the Centaurs, several fragments of land registries inscribed in the 1st century BC, friezes from the stage wall of the antique theatre, a cabinet of curiosities, objects from the cotton print factory and, on the second floor, a large collection of paintings and engravings by the English artists Brangwyn and Albert de Belleroche.

Upstairs, the Museum of Orange has a more modern collection of paintings, furniture and other objects which formed part of a private collection.

Getting to Museum of Orange

The address of the Museum of Orange is Musée d’art et d’histoire d’Orange – Rue Madeleine Roch – 84100 Orange. The Museum is located in the centre of Orange, roughly 30 mins from Avignon. If travelling by car take either the A7 or A9 motorways (depending on direction and source of travel), take Orange centre exit or main road 7, Orange centre exit. There is a free car park 800 meters away from the site.

The closest train station is Avignon-TGV station and the nearest airports are in the city of Marseille, Montpellier and Avignon.

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