Comme tout musée, il délivre plus facilement tous ses secrets grâce aux visites guidées. Il reste cependant très intéressant en visite libre. Le pendule de Foucault est extraordinaire à observer et permet de prendre conscience de la rotation de la Terre de façon surprenante!!! A ne pas manquer.
I must admit I found the art more interesting than this fairly small collection. 2h drive away is the Patek Filippe museum in Geneva ,, now there's a collection!
Musee du temps, is a very good museum, with a nice layout of expositions and full of information, you can spend a day here and you will fell very good with the time spent, if you like museums this is definitely one you can not miss while in Besançon, it has some military history, paintings, nice view from the tower and the clocks exposition, some of them have interactive parts.Bring your camera, and might get cold inside so a sweater would come in handy!
Pour moi, la première raison de visiter ce musée est le bâtiment dans lequel il est installé: le palais Granvelle. Cette belle demeure datant de la période espagnole qui a été très bien restauré pour aménager le musée mérite de s'y arrêter. C'est un des bâtiments les plus connu de la ville en partie par son célèbre commanditaire (le seigneur Granvelle serviteur de Charles Quint).Ce musée fait régulièrement des expositions et des activités pour les plus petits. Une belle immersion dans le calcul du temps dans les époques. Une belle visite en famille.
We visited this on a Sunday, when it is free! Very interesting exhibits, lots of ornate old clocks and watches but wider stuff about time and how it has been recorded and measured over the centuries, including some wonderful old illuminated manuscripts. Lift access to all floors and lots of accessible loos! Unlike some other French museums we have visited there are plenty of "real" artifacts and very little reliance on "son et lumiere" and video interpretations. Top floor is a bit "arty" but the rest is sciency! Oh and quite warm inside..
We found the museum did not meet our expectations. It seemed to provide a good history but we were hoping for more exhibits showing the watches that had been made in Besancon. Everything is written in French only.
N'étant pas très intéressé par horlogerie j'ai toutefois trouvé ce musé assez bien structuré et intéressant. Je le suggère vivement..
Le Musée du Temps (the Museum of Time) is home to a vast and varied collection of watches, clocks and time-pieces that reflects Besançon's long - but now totally disappeared - establishment as the clockmaking centre of France. The permanent collection is carefully curated and displayed over four floors of the magnificent 16th-century Palais Granvelle on the main street at the upper end of the old town. There are often temporary special exhibitions on display in other rooms of the building. At the top of the museum, a staircase leads to the top of an ancient tower, which gives great views across the city and out to its surrounding hills. On the ground floor, there is also a good book- and gift-shop that carries a varied collection of clock- and watch-related literature, as well as local-history publications. Definitely to be included on a visit to the town.
Visiter le musée du temps, c'est commencer à comprendre la place de Besançon dans le monde horloger. Les objets, photos et sujets exposés permettent de bien s'imprégner. Idéalement agencé, il permet aux enfants d'une dizaine d'années de faire leur propre exploration du musée. Activité idéale pour les journées pluvieuses...
Musee du Temps is the best museum in Besancon. It is a suitable museum for all kinds of visitors. The visit is not very long, but it's worth the money..