Musées Gadagne (Lyon Historical Museum and Puppet Museum)

Musées Gadagne (Lyon Historical Museum and Puppet Museum) Review

These two museums are housed in the city's largest ensemble of Renaissance buildings, the Hôtel de Gadagne, built between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Musée d'Histoire de Lyon traces the city's history from its pre-Roman days onward, displaying sculpture, furniture, pottery, paintings, and engravings. The Musée des Marionnettes du Monde focuses on the history of puppets, beginning with Guignol and Madelon—Lyon's Punch and Judy—created by Laurent Mourguet in 1795. After extensive restoration and reform, the museum reopened in 2009 with doubled exhibition space distributed over 39 rooms, two workshops, an auditorium, a documentation center, two hanging gardens, a café, and a museum shop.