Presentation of the museum
The Maisons comtoises open-air museum extends over a 15-hectare site at Nancray. It has the distinction of being one of a kind, inviting visitors to stroll along the museum's arteries – the outdoor trail - that lead to a number of different focal points.
History and architecture
You can gain insight into the lives of our ancestors from their traditional habitat – genuine 17th, 18th and 19th-century Franche-Comté houses have been carefully uprooted from their original locations and painstakingly rebuilt on the museum site – and compare their lives with current lifestyles to project into the future.
The gardens
The houses are surrounded by theme gardens all organically tended: the historical garden, the garden of vegetables that have sunk into oblivion, the simpletons' garden, the garden of textile and dyeing plants, the mountain kitchen garden and the potato garden. They offer ideal material for answering questions about the use and need for plants.
Animals
The museum also illustrates the links between man and farm animals and plays its part in presenting and conserving ancient domestic breeds. It also accommodates bees in a 19th-century mountain beehive.
The environment
The grounds are landscaped to form a delightful discovery area with a pond, woody undergrowth, paths, orchard, hedges and other habitats populated by wild fauna.
Sustainable development
The museum's many facets provide a wealth of resources for addressing the concept of sustainable development through the ways people lived in harmony with their ecosystem, from the 17th century to the here and now. Accordingly, projecting forward into the 21st century can be prompted by observing what local history has to tell us about dwelling, living, managing resources and preserving one's environment.
Waste management
Since the beginning of the year, both museum staff and visitors have been encouraged to sort their waste:
- distinctive dustbins have been installed on the site
- compost bins have been installed by each garden
- the first composting plot for the Franche-Comté region has been set up. Demonstrations, short courses and teach-ins will be based at this new centre dedicated to demystifying compost. As individuals, we can all convert one third of our waste into precious humus… for composting only takes a few minutes a day. We need to learn to restore to Earth what we have taken from it!