Visite du cabinet de curiosités de l'abbaye

The abbey's cabinet of curiosities will be open to visitors again in 2026, by reservation only.
Visit the abbey store to enter the secret corridors of the abbey, and discover some of its most precious historical and natural treasures.

On the plan of the abbey he drew up in 1870, archaeologist Édouard Aubert mentions a "museum" located in what is now the porter's office and the small parlor. Although Aubert says nothing about the appearance of the museum in question, it is highly likely that it took the form of a cabinet of curiosities.
Indeed, the diversity of the abbey's collections, combined with the abbey's traditional educational mission, argue in favor of the deployment of such a space within the monastery's walls as early as the modern period (16th-18th centuries).

But what is a cabinet of curiosities?
According to dictionaries, a cabinet of curiosities is a piece of furniture or a place where unusual objects are displayed. These objects, whether samples of the natural world or manufactured instruments, are intended for both study and aesthetic enjoyment.
The cabinet of curiosities began to develop in Renaissance Italy in the late 15th century. Gradually, it became an orderly space, structured into four sections: naturalia or "things of nature", i.e. naturalized animals and scientifica designating physical or mathematical instruments; artificialia, i.e. things created by man (antiques, works of art, weapons and coins); and exotica, plants and animals from faraway lands.
The cabinet of curiosities is therefore a place of erudition and self-reflexivity, where one withdraws to meditate. Paradoxically, it is also a place of sensation, where the history of the world is experienced through the marvels it offers us.

The place you're about to discover seeks to reproduce this ambivalence: you'll find a heap of objects, often strange, sometimes familiar, whose variety traces the history of the abbey from the 16th century to the present day. Together with the archaeological site and the treasure trove, the cabinet of curiosities offers a unique visiting experience, at the end of which you'll leave with a complete overview of the history of the house.

The cabinet of curiosities is not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
It costs 35 francs per person (AVS, AI, AC and students 33 francs; children aged 6 to 16 10 francs).
Bookings and guided tours only at contact@abbaye-stmaurice.ch or 024 485 15 34.

Maximum 20 people per tour.
Tours are scheduled at 2:00 pm on Saturdays May 23, June 27, July 25, August 22, September 26, October 31 and Monday December 7.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.

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