This museum (Euskal museoa) is home to the most extensive collection on the social life of the Northern Basque Country (Iparralde) of France.
The Maison Dagourette is a rare and beautiful 17th-century port house, is of course part of Bayonne's history, is now a listed building and has housed the Basque Museum since 1924.
Surrounding the large light well (Argialde), there are about twenty rooms themed on three levels that show the diverse Basque culture: Origin and language, rural life, architecture, domestic life and crafts, activities at sea and on the river, festivals and games, regional history.
Bayonne's history goes back to Gallo-Roman times, was already a fortress in the 3rd century, belonged to the Visigoths, Basques, Franks and Normans, who were in turn expelled by Gascons. Its river location and proximity to Spain were the reason for its growing prosperity through international trade and logistics, but also that the city - until the 20th century - was repeatedly involved in geopolitical conflicts.
Nevertheless ... or because of that ? ... the culture and a self-understanding developed, as we find it today - with its own language, Basque, with its own traditions and customs, which do not have to be specially cultivated, but belong to everyday life, as we could look at and learn in the museum - so to speak an introduction to the Basque Country.
© 2023
