30 years after its closure, the Musée du Gévaudan reopens its doors in Mende

“Non-elitist”, “surprising” and “founded on a solid scientific basis” according to its director, the new Gévaudan Museum retraces the history of this province of the Ancien Régime by giving pride of place to the “beast” which terrorized the France of Louis XV. 27 years after the closure of the municipal museum, this new space, free of charge, is installed in the setting of two former 17th century mansions, in the historic heart of Mende, the prefecture of Lozère. After crossing a bright patio, visitors will be able to discover, on the first floor, 500 objects selected from the 16,000 in the collectionlargely from the reserves of the Society of Letters, Sciences and Arts of Lozère, a learned society dating back to the beginning of the 19th century.

The first four rooms are dedicated to “nature and its uses” and address the themes of land, water, flora and fauna of the territory, intermingling raw materials and the use made of them. people over the centuries.

“We didn’t want it to be elitist but for everything to seem obvious, for each room to have its own surprise”, explains the director of the museum, Nadia Harabasz.

In the space reserved for plants, there are fossils, herbarium boards presented in light wood showcases and a “grain library where everyone can exchange seeds on the principle of barter, a first in a museum in France”, adds Mrs. Harabasz. The visit continues in a more classic chronological mode: proto-history, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Renaissance, before approaching the undeniable star of the place, the “Beast of Gévaudan”. Alternately presented as a man disguised as a wolf, a gigantic dog, a lion or a hyena, “the” or “the” mysterious animals, which attacked young shepherds in particular, would have caused 87 deaths for more than 250 attacks between 1764 and 1767, arousing amazement and terror well beyond the borders of the royal province.

– A beast ready to pounce –

Two specimens were killed, the first by a soldier of the king in 1765, a second in 1767 by a local hunter, which put an end to the attacks. Stuffed, the animals were brought to Versailles, where they were studied before being finally buried. In any case, today’s scholars agree that they were probably large, particularly ferocious canines, at a time when France had around 20,000 wolves. Fueled at the time by a nascent tabloid press, the legend of the “Beast of Gevaudan” is now part of the region’s identity, as evidenced by storybooks, records, boxes of biscuits and other bottles of alcohol bearing his likeness collected by the museum.

After admiring the “Salle des Vertus” — a cabinet decorated with 17th century frescoes — and a small “Beaux-Arts” section, all that remains is to go back down to enjoy a shop and a relaxation designed as a “third place” open to all.

A mid-mountain department in the south of the Massif Central, Lozère mainly attracts lovers of wide open spaces and outdoor sports, much less culture enthusiasts, especially since the closure of the municipal museum in 1995. It therefore took 27 years for the idea of ​​a museum to be reborn., that the works be saved, then that the former museum be renovated and enlarged. The project lasted three years and cost 12 million euros, supported by the State, the city, the department, the Occitanie Region and the European Union.

“We were the only prefecture in France without a museum. However, when the weather is not there, we have to be able to offer indoor activities”, the mayor of Mende, Laurent Suau.