Musée Gadagne: Museum of Lyon History / International Museum of Puppets, Lyon

As the famous 19th-century puppet Guignol was created in Lyon, it is only natural that there should be a museum dedicated to him and his fellow-creatures.

There actually are two twin museums housed in the same Gadagne Building: the Museum of Lyon History opened in 1921 and is an interesting, educational museum, dealing with the period from de Gaul’s to the present day.

You will learn all about the city of Lyon through the 80,000 items that take you through the daily lives of the people: their economic and social lives, religion and the planning and growth of Lyon over the ages. The items include objets d’art, silver and gold plated artefacts, furniture, drawings, paintings and plans of the city, set out in 31 permanent exhibition rooms.

The Puppet Museum opened in 1950 and started out with a small collection based on the Guignol puppet. Closed between 2003 and 2009 for major renovations and up-dating, the museum now boasts of over 2000 puppets from all over the world.

The puppets now have nine rooms for themselves, each equipped with multimedia for watching short plays and pedagogic slide shows that explain all about the techniques of puppeteering and its links with other forms of art. Contemporary puppeteers give interesting lectures at certain times during the day, and there is an audio guide in various languages.

On top of the building, there is a small theatre that seats 138 spectators. Puppet plays are put on at regular intervals to the delight of both adults and children.