Located in Bourgneuf (Villeneuve-en-Retz), the emblematic salt town of the former "Baye de Bretagne", the MUSEUM OF THE PAYS DE RETZ - labelled as a Museum of France - immerses you in the Arts and Popular Traditions - the History and the Cultural and Natural Heritage of this historical region of Brittany, from prehistory to the beginning of the 20th century.

After the projection of a film presenting the territory and the life cycle of a local salt marsh, you will discover its numerous dedicated spaces on 1300m2:

• Archaeology
• MineralogyHistory, old maps and coats of arms
• Gallery of historical figures
• Costumes and headdresses
• Trades of yesteryear
• Agricultural and wine-making activities
• Fresh and salt water
• Traditional rural housing
• Inn and School 1900
• SEL room with an archaeological reconstruction of a salt oven from the Gallic period...

You can immerse yourself in local history in a didactic, educational and playful way, by handling clay objects and wooden tools, writing with a pen on old school desks, riding a draisienne (the ancestor of the bicycle) from the beginning of the 19th century, trying on replicas of helmets, hats and weapons related to famous people who have marked the memory of the area.

You will also enjoy temporary exhibitions, conferences, animations with numerous large-scale wooden games from the past, discovery games and riddles, solar and nocturnal astronomy, and traditional activities that have since disappeared (rope-making, basket-making, spinning, making and maintaining headdresses and lace...).

The little extras of the Museum from April to November :

• Possibility of guided tour with mediation for groups (on reservation: 10 people minimum)
• Photos are allowed (feel free to take some with helmets and hats...)
• Children can visit the Museum dressed as Vikings and knights (with clothes, helmets, swords, shields)