The Carnac Prehistory Museum should move into a new building in April 2027. Definitively voted on during the Municipal Council on July 28, the project plans to transfer the current museum, installed since 1984 in a disused presbytery, to the site of the old school canteen, 150 meters away.
“The demolition of the current building should take place in September or October 2024. Construction will start in early 2026”indicated to West France Jean-Luc Servais, municipal councilor responsible for major projects in Carnac. Built by the Projectiles group, the new building will be clad in granite cladding and will be built around a 14-metre monumental stele.
With a surface area of 2,500 m² spread over three levels, the museum will offer a tour focusing on megaliths from yesterday to today. The new building will allow visitors to discover more objects from the museum’s collection, which numbers more than 300,000 pieces – of which only 3,500 were on display until now. The reservations, for their part, “will allow us to accommodate new collections from recent excavations”specifies Olivier Agogué, director of the museum and administrator at the Center of National Monuments.
The current museum, which receives between 35,000 and 40,000 visitors per year, was “saturated”, on all sides, explains Olivier Agogué. The new organization will improve reception conditions and promote the archaeological riches of the region. In addition to the permanent and temporary exhibitions, a boutique space and two mediation rooms will also be available in this new location.
Poster for the exhibition “Sorti(s) de terre, 1882-2022 – 140 years of archeology at the museum”, currently visible at the Carnac Museum.
Estimated at 20 million euros, financed by the municipality with the support of the State and communities, the Carnac Prehistory Museum is one of the three major museum projects retained by the State-Region Brittany plan contract. Relaunched three years ago, the museum modernization project is part of the process of classifying megaliths as UNESCO world heritage sites.
Last June, the destruction of an alignment of stones dating from the Neolithic period during the construction of a DIY store caused great excitement. An exhibition is currently being held at the museum on the project for the new site, it is entitled “Exit(s) from Earth – 140 years later… towards a new museum”.
