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On a hill at the entrance in the cave there is Amedee Lemozi Museum,
founded by Abbot Lemozi in 1934. At that time the museum was in Cabrera
township, 2,5km from Pech Merle in a middle-aged castle, belonging to
M.Lebaudi, a patron of the arts, who had helped to organized the museum. In
1964 the owner sold the castle and handed the museum collections as a gift
the Cabrera commune for a new museum. But only in 17 years, on the 5th of
April 1981, the new building, built according to the modern constructivism
project, was opened. The museum collections completely reflect the ancient
man's activity, his everyday life, his attitude towards death and creative work.
Exhibition halls ran around a small, comfortable video-hall, where one can
see films, video and slide-popular-science programs. A special staircase near
the museum leads to the cave. Together with the cave the museum made The
Center on studying of prehistoric culture Pech Merle. Michel Lorblanchet, a
prominent specialist in prehistoric art, is a scientific curator of the museum
and of the cave. Similar centers, combining successful presentation in a
museum of a real prehistoric monument and a highly professional scientific
organization are still rare both in Europe and in the world. One can remember
a small but wonderful museum at Altamira cave, reserve Mont-Bego in the
vallee de Merveiiles in the south of France, Val Camonica in the north of Italy
and few other places. Connecting a prehistoric art monument and a museum
of such level allows to solve two tasks at once: the stuff lives and works close
to the monument and the visitors of the museum can vividly imagine the life
of an ancient man in its full variety.
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