Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Museum of Basque Culture (Musée Basque)
This museum (in Petit Bayonne, facing the Nive River at Pont Marengo) explains French
Basque culture from cradle to grave—in French, Euskara, and Spanish. The only English
you'll read is “do not touch” (unless you buy their informative €5 English booklet). Arti-
facts and videos take you into traditional Basque villages and sit you in the front row of
time-honored festivals, letting you envision this otherwise hard-to-experience culture.
Cost and Hours:
€6.50, free first Sun of month; open July-Sept daily 10:00-18:30,
Thu until 20:30; Oct-June Tue-Sun 10:00-18:30, closed Mon; last entry one hour before
closing, 37 Quai des Corsaires, tel. 05 59 59 08 98,
www.musee-basque.com
.
Visiting the Museum:
On the ground floor, you'll begin with a display of carts and
tools used in rural life, then continue past some 16th-century gravestones. Look for the
laiak
—distinctive forked hoes used to work the ground. At the end of this section you'll
watch a grainy film on Basque rural lifestyles.
The next floor up begins by explaining that the house
(etxea)
is the building block
of Basque society. More than just a building, it's a social institution—Basques are named
for their house, not vice versa. You'll see models and paintings of Basque houses, then
domestic items, a giant door, kitchen equipment, and furniture (including a combination
bench-table, next to the fireplace). After an exhibit on Basque clothing, you'll move into
the nautical life, with models, paintings, and actual boats. The little door leads to a large
model of the port of Bayonne in 1805, back when it was a strategic walled city.
Upstairs you'll learn that the religious life of the Basques was strongly influenced
by the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail, which passes through their territory. One somber
room explains Basque funeral traditions. The section on social life includes a video of
Basque dances (typically accompanied by flute and drums). These are improvised, but ac-
cording to a clearly outlined structure—not unlike a square dance.
portance to these people. One dimly lit room shows off several types of
txistera
baskets
(
chistera
inFrench),gloves,andballsusedforthegame;videosshowyouhowtheseitems
are made. The museum wraps up with a brief lesson on the region's history from the 16th
to the 20th centuries, including exhibits on the large Jewish population here (who had fled
from a hostile Spain) and the renaissance of Basque culture in the 19th century.
