Located in the old town, between the banks of the river Gers and the Cathedral, the ‘Jacobins’ building has been occupied since the 15th century.  The Jacobins (Dominican monks) stayed there until the French Revolution.  Following the dissolution of the community, the building was successively used as stables, as a workshop for making weapons and as a meeting place for a revolutionary group. Ursulines bought the building in 1808 and gave it back to diocesan missionaries in 1822.  The premises were occupied by the Apostolic School between 1935 and 1965.  When the city of Auch acquired it in 1976, the building was threatening to collapse.  It took three years to transform it into a museum.

Founded on 16th December 1793, the Auch Museum is amongst the oldest museums in France.  Nowadays, located in the old Jacobins Convent, the Museum presents a huge variety of collections gathered in five big sections.

Brought back from Egypt by Charles Palanques, one of the first curators of the Museum, the Egyptian collections include artefacts from the old Empire to the Roman era. The archaeology rooms gather the Gallo-Roman collections found mostly in Auch, on the ancient site of Augusta Auscorum.  Exceptional frescoes from a villa discovered near Auch/Roquelaure dating from the very beginning of the Christian era.

The medieval rooms present lapidary collections notably from the old cathedral in Auch, such as the impressive recumbent effigy of the Cardinal of Armagnac (15th c.) or from the old St-Orens priory as well as beautiful polychrome sculptures.

Gathered in three rooms, the pre-Hispanic collections constitute one of the key elements of the museum.  An important part of the collection comes mainly from Peru (Mochica, Chimu, Nazca, Chancay cultures…) and Mexico (Huastec, Aztec and Tiahuanaco cultures).

This collection is made of the rarest and most precious elements of the museum. It comprises over sixty polychrome sculptures wearing embroidered clothes and originating from Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and especially Ecuador. Dating from the 18th century, the little statues bear a strong Spanish influence.
Major piece: St Gregory’s Mass This Mexican feather mosaic dating from 1539 represents, without a doubt, the masterpiece of the museum.  It was made by local artists according to the ancestral Aztec techniques but under the supervision of Franciscan monks, less than 20 years after the fall of Mexico City.

Very beautiful collection of Auch earthenware from the workshops located in the La Treille area but which production only lasted 15 years (1757 – 1772). The fine art objects and furniture exhibited come mostly from the French Revolution seizures carried out in the old Archbishops’ Palace and in the Intendants’ building of the Auch area: mahogany lounge furniture upholstered with Aubusson tapestry illustrating La Fontaine’s Fables, a harpsichord dating from the end of the 18th century or a magnificent bust from Boizot representing King Louis XVI.

These collections comprise mainly masterpieces from 18th – 20th century local artists:  Jacob and Jean-Baptiste Smets, Gabriel Lettu, Gustave de Lassalle-Bordes, Jean Louis Rouméguère (the painter of light), Mario Cavaglieri and a sculpture of Antonin Carlès, etc…

This particular section groups together daily life objects from the19th century as well as a selection of the most colourful traditional costumes of which the museum keeps one of the most important collections.