Musée du Pays Châtillonnais 1.72

The Musée du Pays Châtillonnais, or Trésor de Vix, formerly called the musée archéologique de Châtillon-sur-Seine (Côte-d'Or), was created in the late nineteenth century and is managed by the community of communes of the Pays Châtillonnais. The museum houses the finding of the Vix Grave, and especially the famous Vix krater, dated to circa 500 BCE and testifying to the links between the Gauls and the Greeks at that period.HistoryThroughout France the second half of the nineteenth century was an era of growing interest in archeology. The subject was particularly popular in the Côte-d'Or region since major excavations had been organized by Napoleon III on the site of Alesia, from Châtillon. In 1882 the Châtillon Archaeological and Historical Society opened the first museum, to be a museum of archaeology. The region is rich in archaeological relics. The excavations of the Gallo-Roman Vertillum, about fifteen miles away, and those of Mount Lassois, produced a large number of objects.In 1928 the society acquired a Renaissance hotel downtown, the hotel Philandrier, named after William Philandrier, an architect born in Chatillon in the 16th century. In 1950 the museum expanded with a move into the hotel, which provided an exhibition area of. Three years later the discovery of the Vix Grave, a burial of prime importance for its richness and historical interest, brought international recognition to the museum. It was able to collect all the treasures of the site, which otherwise would probably have been taken to the National Archaeological Museum at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.