Nancray

Located in Nancray, 15 km from Besançon, the Musée des Maisons comtoises, a French museum, was created in 1983 by the Folklore Comtois Association on the initiative of Abbé Garneret, who had been working there for 50 years. The museum opened to the public in 1988 with five houses to visit. The Musée des Maisons comtoises is one of the very few French open-air museums and the only one in the region.
In line with the principle of northern European open-air museums, the museum’s primary role is to safeguard vernacular architecture and to make it accessible to the greatest number of people. This is generally built from easily accessible local materials. Since its creation, the perimeter chosen is that of Franche-Comté because it has a diversified architectural heritage. There are stone, wooden, earthen and mixed buildings. The architectural types and styles are varied due to the diversity of the landscapes, geological formations and the weather conditions specific to their location. The preservation of these traditional houses and buildings has been ensured by dismantling them and collecting furniture, objects and tools used from the 17th century to the present day.
Six farms, a Comté cheese dairy, a communal oven and a weaver’s workshop, all fully equipped, are presented in a 15-hectare country park. Numerous outbuildings such as granaries, lodges, beehives, bakeries, barns, a chapel, a garden kiosk, a shed and barns complete this collection. Fountains, milestones and mission crosses are also found along the route. Themed gardens, vegetable gardens, orchards and animals adorn the environment of the houses. These alone are a centre of interest for visitors who love gardens or are looking for examples and ideas on how to cultivate them differently.
An atypical site combining heritage and nature, the museum has gained notoriety thanks to its innovative policies in terms of mediation, the environment, digital technology, accessibility and its avant-garde cultural programme!
Almost 40 years after its opening, the museum’s objectives are changing. Its mission today is to be a place of reflection on how to live and inhabit with local resources through three axes: housing, food and living together while assuming its singularity. Without idealising the past, the museum is conducive to reflection on local socio-economic resilience and a reconnection to the essential. The museum-park is a place of culture, experimentation, entertainment, relaxation, exchange and encounters.
Open 7 months of the year from April to November, the Nancray park-museum welcomes around 45,000 visitors per season. A place of intergenerational culture in a bucolic park, you will find there a museum, exhibitions, gardens and a restaurant with a beautiful terrace overlooking the park.

Virginie Duede-Fernandez
Director of archaeological research
www.maisons-comtoises.org