Museums, parks and gardens

To discover

Textile and horn comb museum

Lavelanet

The Musée du Textile et du Peigne en Corne (Textile and Horn Comb Museum) presents the stages in the manufacture of a cloth and a horn comb in the preserved ambience and atmosphere ofone of Lavelanet’s oldest cloth factories.

It’s an invitation to travel, to the heart of materials and eras, from the Middle Ages to the 21ᵉ century.

The visit to this museum is fascinating, punctuated by demonstrations, using hand tools and the operation of machines, in production.

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Montsegur Museum

This museum exhibits the findings of excavations on the castle’s historic site. You can discover cannonballs, scissors, weapons and everyday objects from the XIIIᵉ century.

It’s also a permanent exhibition on Catharism in Ariège.

A vision of what was the daily way of life of the men and women who lived through the ages on the site of Montségur castle.

In addition to exhibits, models and other reproductions, you’ll discover the moving graves (the only ones found to date on the pog) of a man and a woman who died during the siege of 1243 – 1244…

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Bar Expo de Vals

The first museum in Vals was created by Abbé Julien Durand in 1964 in a house belonging to theBishopric of Pamiers. This house now belongs to the commune of Vals. The new museum, inaugurated on July 4, 2009, has been completed, making it a place of life and exchange, co-managed by the municipality and the Association des amis de Vals.

The exhibition space presents archaeological material discovered on the Vals site, around the church, from prehistory to the early modern era. Objects found during the first excavations carried out by Abbé Durand in the vicinity of Montségur are also on display.

The aim of the association and the municipality of Vals is to maintain free access to the site and the church. The church can be visited all year round (generally from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). The bar-exhibition is open from June to October, between 11 am and 7 pm. Outside this period, it is open on request for groups.

The extraordinary garden

Lieurac

Irène and François, the owners, have teamed up with a group of artists to design a walk punctuated by artistic creations, flowers and vegetables of forgotten varieties. Between the rivers, trees and hills of the valley, visitors find themselves in playgrounds and places of artistic interrogation.

Strolls are completely independent and free of charge.

Concerts are sometimes added to the strolls, for a gentle musical moment with Latino tones.

Refreshments and food available on site, but you can also bring your own picnic.

The small garden is open Thursday to Sunday from July 20 to August 17.

The large garden is open Thursday to Sunday from August 17 to 27.

Bamboo Park

In a magnificent green setting, the Parc aux Bambous invites you to come and discover a garden awarded the “remarkable” label in 2006.

Over its five hectares, it boasts one of France’s leading bamboo collections.

In a spirit of discovery, calm and serenity, this little corner of paradise guarantees a complete change of scenery. Among a thousand and one types of bamboo, a labyrinth invites you to get lost!

The park also features a flower garden, an orchard of old-fashioned apple trees, remarkable trees, a collection of ferns, a collection of grasses, a water-lily pond, sculptures hidden throughout the park…

The park can be visited as a self-guided tour, with explanatory panels, or as a guided tour for groups (booking required).

Open fromApril to October.

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Buffalo Farm

La ferme aux bisons is a 1,500-metre-long wildlife park where you can visit and observe numerous animal species (bison, aurochs, watussi, highlands, emus, rheas, deer, fallow deer, Patagonian hares…).

A family outing for young and old alike. Pets are welcome on a leash.

Mini farm open to visitors on foot, walking trail and tractor tour.

Open fromApril to October.

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