🖼️ Lausanne Historical Museum

Lausanne Historical Museum

The Historical Museum of Lausanne (Musée historique de Lausanne in french) describes the history of the city. Renovated in 2018, it is partly located in the castle of the Ancien-Evêché just next to the cathedral of Lausanne. It contains a magnificent model of Lausanne during the Middle Ages that is worth the trip on its own.

The entrance to the museum with the MUDAC tower just behind.

From left to right, the esplanade of the cathedral, the main building of the historical museum and the Ancien-Evêché castle.

Weather

Access

Parking next to the Saint-Maire castle or Riponne car park.

Themes

The themes presented by the museum are as follows:

The reception with a very refined style.

1. Lausanne en dates  (Lausanne in dates)
2. La maquette (The model)
3. Se construire (Building oneself)
4. Se loger (To find a place to live)
5. S’écouler (To flow out)
6. Se déplacer (To get around)
7. Se recueillir (To pray)
8. S’épanouir (To flourish)
9. S’affairer (Getting busy)
10. From Lausanne with love
11. Portraits de Lausannoises et Lausannois (Portraits of Lausanne residents)

A corridor presenting the history of the city of Lausanne.

The part of the museum inside the castle of the Ancien-Evêché. A notice indicates the visit of the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, to this place in 1476 before the famous battle of Murten against the Swiss during the Burgundy wars.

Information panels in the basement of the castle.

The model

The model of Lausanne in 1638 is a magnificent work of art that is exhibited at the beginning of the museum and required two years of work in the early 1990s. It shows how Lausanne was in 1638 in the Middle Ages.

We can see a city very different from today’s. At the time Lausanne was surrounded by ramparts and towers that were almost completely destroyed in the 19th century. A film and a luminous animation on the model allow to receive a lot of information.

The model of Lausanne in 1638.

Zoom on the Ancien-Evêché castle, which partially houses the Lausanne historical museum and of which only a part remains today under the cathedral.

Nearby

In the immediate vicinity of the Lausanne Historical Museum there are a large number activities such as:

• Saint-Maire castle
• Notre-Dame Cathedral
• Mudac museum
• Museums inside the Palais de Rumine

The cathedral from the museum’s large bay window.

Vidéo

A video on the museum.

Webcam

Webcam on the Bessière bridge near the museum.

Related attractions

Attractions in the canton of Vaud
Attractions in the Lausanne region

Museums in Western Switzerlans