The Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum of Saint-Tropez is a museum in Saint-Tropez, Var, France, located in the former gendarmerie building at Place Blanqui. The building served as the seat of the Saint-Tropez gendarmerie brigade from 1879 to 2003. Conceived as a museum in 2012 and opened in June 2016, it was created by Atelier de los Charrons, selected through competition, under the direction of conservator Gwenaëlle Van Butsele, with an initial budget of 1.9 million euros.
The museum focuses on the relationship between the building and the gendarmerie, as well as Saint-Tropez’s connection to cinema. Designed as an interactive and participative space, it includes fully recreated rooms, drawers that can be opened, typewriters to use, and a period automobile to sit in. The museum also contains the entrance and reception area, including ticket offices and a shop, and a room for temporary exhibitions. Its permanent spaces present the history of the Saint-Tropez gendarmerie, the cinema history of Saint-Tropez and the region, the film hexalogy Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez and actor Louis de Funès, and professions linked to film.
Nearby Objects
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Annonciade Museum 200 m away -
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption 550 m away -
Cemetery of Saint-Tropez 950 m away
Museum Theme and Cultural Focus
The Gendarmerie and Cinema Museum of Saint-Tropez is located in Saint-Tropez, Var, France. Its main focus is the connection between the building and the gendarmerie. The museum also presents cinema as part of its theme, with attention to the relationship between Saint-Tropez and cinema. This gives the museum a dual cultural role, linking local history with the town's association with film.
From Gendarmerie to Museum
The building at Place Blanqui, named after the socialist revolutionary, housed the gendarmerie brigade of Saint-Tropez from 1879 to 2003. In 2012, the site was conceived as a museum, and it opened in June 2016 under the name Historia. The project had an initial budget of 1.9 million euros and was created by Atelier de los Charrons, which was selected through a competition. The museum was directed by conservator Gwenaelle Van Butsele. Its history as a former gendarmerie building gives the museum its historical identity and links it closely to the civic memory of Saint-Tropez.
Exhibition Spaces and Visitor Experience
The museum is designed as an interactive and participative place, with fully recreated rooms from the period it presents. Visitors can open drawers, type on typewriters, and sit in a period automobile. The entrance and reception area includes the ticket offices and the shop, and the museum also has a room for temporary exhibitions. In 2017, it exhibited Brigitte Bardot, followed by De los animales y de las stars in 2018, with photographs by Edward Quinn, and Johnny Hallyday in 2019.
The museum is organized into several themed spaces. Space 1 presents the history of the Saint-Tropez gendarmerie body and the building's history in relation to the El gendarme de Saint-Tropez film hexalogy. Space 2 introduces visitors to the history of cinema in Saint-Tropez and the region. Space 3 is entirely dedicated to the El gendarme de Saint-Tropez films and actor Louis de Funes. Space 4 is devoted to various film professions.
The museum also features other thematic sections, including Saint-Tropez as a holiday place with a reconstruction of a section of Route Nationale 7, the cultural and festive approach of cinema in Saint-Tropez, Saint-Tropez as a fashion place, and a reproduction of a dressing room honoring actresses.
Museum Collections and Film Heritage
The museum collections were formed through acquisitions and loans from both private collectors and cultural institutions. Among the private contributors was ACSPMG, the Association des Collectionneurs Pour la Sauvegarde du Patrimoine de la Marechaussee a la Gendarmerie, whose collections were preserved by its president, Nicolas Molino. Institutional sources included the Archives of Vincennes, the French Cinematheque, the Lumiere Institute, and the New Society of Cinematography, or SNC. The SNC had produced the six films of El gendarme de Saint-Tropez. The collections were also built with unpublished interviews of actors and other people present on the Saint-Tropez film sets, collected for the creation of the museum.
Museum Activities and Public Installations
Acontecimientos opened a museum in 2016 and later extended its cultural presence in Saint-Tropez through public and film-related events. In 2017, it installed a 2.5 meter tall bronze statue of Brigitte Bardot in Blanqui square. The statue weighed 700 kilos and became part of the local public space. In 2018, Acontecimientos also organized an outdoor screening of the restored version of the film El gendarme de Saint-Tropez, linking the museum's activity to the town's cinematic heritage and public programming.