Musée de Sens

The Sens Museum presents the history of the city from the time of the Gallic Senons to the end of the 19th century. A real "museum palace"! Housed in the former palace of the archbishops of Sens, right next to the cathedral, the Musée de Sens boasts a wealth of collections:
- The Cathedral Treasury: still considered to be one of the most important in France and Europe, it contains an exceptional collection of antique fabrics, gold and silverware, splendid 15th-century tapestries, liturgical vestments, ivories, enamels and other religious artefacts.
- The Gallo-Roman collections, from excavations carried out in the Sénonais region. The Gallo-Roman sculptures evoke the monumentality of the public buildings that made up the city of Sens (Agedincum) between the 1st and 3rd centuries. The impressive collection of funerary stelae, housed in vaulted cellars, will leave you breathless! Mosaics, architectural blocks (cornices, capitals, columns) and the reconstruction of the façade of a thermal bath complete your visit.
- Works from the Marrey donation, which includes paintings by (among others!) Brueghel, Boudin and Watteau de Lille, sculptures (including two bronzes by Rodin) and a unique collection of furniture designed by the wrought-iron artist Raymond Subes and ceramics by J. Mayodon.
The Beaux-Arts room, based on the layout of the 19th-century museum, also houses paintings from the 15th to the 19th centuries (Guido Reni, Delorme, Rochegrosse), as well as contemporary works by artists working in Sénonais or with links to the region.
Since 2021 and the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon I, a room has been dedicated to the Emperor: a collection of Napoleonic memorabilia including, among other items, the hat worn by Napoleon I at Waterloo and his mounted hunter's outfit dating from his exile on St Helena.
Your visit is enhanced by digital content throughout the tour.