Poissy · Yvelines
Maison de Fer — Art and History Gallery, Poissy
French name: Maison de Fer - galerie d'art et d'histoire de Poissy
Free admission
- Free 1st SundayFree on the first Sunday of every month
- Free for certain visitorsFree every day for Jobseekers
- Free for certain visitorsFree every day for Receiving income support
- Free for certain visitorsFree every day for Disabled visitors
- Free for certain visitorsFree every day for Companion of a disabled visitor
- Free for certain visitorsFree every day for ICOM cardholders
Address
2ter allée des Glaïeuls, parc Meissonier, 78300 Poissy
Directions - Google MapsGoogle MapsApple Maps
Opening hours
Wed, Sat, Sun 13:00-18:00
Standard admission
Full price €3.00, reduced €1.00
The Maison de Fer takes its name from what it is made of: structure, walls and roof are entirely metal, assembled using a pressed-sheet system patented by the Belgian engineer Joseph Danly. Built in 1896 as a holiday villa for Georges de Coninck and his wife, lived in until the 1980s and listed on the supplementary inventory of historic monuments as early as 1975, it was later abandoned and then blown down by the storm of 1999. The town of Poissy bought what was left in 2016 and set about a methodical rebuild: dismantling to salvage as many original parts as possible, a condition survey of each element, and identical re-manufacture of the rest. The foundation stone was laid in late 2018 in the open-air theatre of the parc Meissonier, work finished in 2019 under architect Philippe Blanc, and the building was inaugurated during the 2020 European Heritage Days. It is one of the few surviving examples of the late 19th-century metal architecture that once stood for innovation and comfort. Inside, the house now holds the town's art and history gallery, showing the collections of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Poissy (a "Musée de France"). Some fifty major works trace the town from medieval Poissy — a royal cradle, the baptism of the future Saint Louis at the collegiate church in 1214, the priory founded by Philip the Fair and the 1561 Colloquy of Poissy — through to the 20th-century industrial town, by way of the cattle market, the Seine riverside and Parisian holiday-making. Admission is 3 € full price and 1 € reduced, and free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month. Open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00.
More free museums nearby
- Villa SavoyePoissy1st Sunday, low season
- Pierre Pinel Toy MuseumPoissyFree 1st Sunday
- Zola-Dreyfus MuseumMédanNo free admission
- Maurice Denis MuseumSaint-Germain-en-LayeNo free admission
- National Archaeology MuseumSaint-Germain-en-LayeFree 1st Sunday
- Ducastel-Vera Municipal Museum of Saint-Germain-en-LayeSaint-Germain-en-LayeAlways free