Musée du Pays rabastinois (Local History)

The Hôtel de La Fite, an aristocratic estate from the end of the seventeenth century located in the heart of the old city, houses the municipal museum that first opened its doors in 1986 following an extensive renovation.

From prehistoric archaeological collections to the late antiquity, the permanent exhibition features a superb mosaic from the fourth century discovered in 1976 at a Gallo-Roman Villa in Las Peyras 1 km north of the town. A room dedicated to religious art is home to a beautiful collection of paintings and sculptures dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.

An exceptional collection of glazed Giroussens pottery produced 5 kilometres east of Rabastens from the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century evokes an important aspect of this local craftwork that was exported as far away as Canada before 1760.
Besides the drawings and engravings by R. Lafage, one can see works by a number of regional artists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries such as Boissière, Prouho, Roustan, Boyals, Gaudion, Léonardi, Atché, Lobligeois, and Morlighem. The René Bégué donation (1887-1987) called Rébé, exhibits the creations of the famous Parisian embroiderer who worked in high fashion between 1907 and 1967 notably for the patterns of the wedding dress worn by the Empress of Iran Farah Diba Pahlavi (Dior 1959) as well as a collection of cameos and etched jewellery made by his father who was a stonecutter.

Finally, vintage photographs and documents tell the rich local history of the exquisite pieces created by the master carpenter, R. Bellegarde.

Temporary classical and contemporary exhibitions with a link to the permanent collections are organised by the museum.