Musée du Vieux Nîmes

You are in front of the Museum of Old Nîmes, the Musée du Vieux Nîmes, on the place aux Herbes, right next to the cathedral. The building is the former bishops’ palace. A first palace was begun in 1490 under Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet, and the building you see dates mostly from the late seventeenth century. The museum itself was founded in 1920 by a scholar born in Nîmes, Henry Bauquier. Its subject is the city itself and the life of its people, from the Middle Ages to the present day. You will walk through reconstructed drawing rooms showing how textile manufacturers lived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For Nîmes was a great textile city: the museum presents wool serge, silk, nineteenth-century cashmere shawls, and the cloth of Nîmes, whose history is linked to that of denim. Also look at the furniture, the ceramics, the paintings and the old pictures of the city. The palace has been listed as a historic monument since 18 March 1986. Until 22 November 2026, the exhibition “Résurgence, l’eau à Nîmes”, about water in Nîmes, tells the story of the role of water in the city’s history.

History

The building is the former bishops’ palace of Nîmes. Its construction began in 1490 under Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet, but the present building dates mostly from the late seventeenth century. It was listed as a historic monument on 18 March 1986. The museum was founded in 1920 by Henry Bauquier, a Nîmes scholar. Holding the Musée de France label, it belongs to the category of ethnographic museums: it tells the story of the daily life and economy of the city. It welcomed 9,844 visitors in 2019. Since 2021, it has been in the care of the curator Lisa Laborie-Barrière.

Art and architecture

The collections cover the history of Nîmes from the Middle Ages to the present day: furniture, ceramics, graphic arts, paintings and sculptures, popular objects and images of the city. Reconstructed drawing rooms evoke the interiors of textile manufacturers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The palace itself, with the volumes of an episcopal residence, is part of the visit.

Anecdotes

For three centuries Nîmes lived to the rhythm of textiles. The museum presents wool serge, silk and nineteenth-century cashmere shawls, and highlights the role of Nîmes serge in the history of the fabric known today as denim. Each year, temporary exhibitions complement the visit: in 2026, “Résurgence, l’eau à Nîmes” shows how water has shaped the city since antiquity.

What to look for

Before going in, look at the façade of the former bishops’ palace from the square. Inside, linger in the reconstructed drawing rooms to imagine the life of a manufacturing family. In the rooms devoted to textiles, compare the fabrics: wool serge, silk, cashmere shawls. Finish with the old views of Nîmes, where you will recognise monuments you passed on your walk.

Practical

Address: place Mère-Teresa, in the heart of the Écusson, telephone 04 66 76 73 70. Opening times checked on 6 October 2026 on nimes.fr: Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 6:30 pm, closed on Mondays; the ticket office closes 20 minutes earlier. The museum offers aids for deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors, including a free sign-language app on a tablet.

Nearby

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Castor is right next door, and the place de l’Horloge and the town hall are a few steps away. The six museums of Nîmes are within a radius of about one kilometre: an annual pass at 40 euros lets you visit them all. To learn more about the history of water, then head to the quays and the Jardins de la Fontaine.

Test yourself

Sources

• Wikipedia: Musée du Vieux Nîmes
• City of Nîmes: Musée du Vieux Nîmes

Information checked on 6 October 2026.