Musée de la Ville de Nouméa (Noumea City Museum)
Noumea’s museum of local history
300F
The Musée de la Ville de Nouméa (Noumea City Museum) is a local history museum with exhibits about Noumea’s history and culture. It is in the heart of the city and it offers a fascinating look at the history of Noumea and the surrounding region.
What to see at Musée de la Ville de Nouméa (Noumea City Museum)
The museum has a wide range of exhibits chronicling the city’s history from 1853 to the present day.
The museum consists of three levels of exhibits. The basement level is taken up by displays about the First World War and the importance of nickel mining to the city. The ground floor has displays that tell the story of the discovery of New Caledonia and exhibits that chart the early history of the city. The first floor depicts Noumea during the Second World War when the city was influenced strongly by the American wartime presence in the South Pacific.
The museum is also worth visiting for the beautiful colonial-style building and also for its lovely gardens that are typical of the city’s gardens in the 1900s. The building dates from 1874, when it was built to house New Caledonia’s first bank, although the building was purchased by the city only a few years later for temporary use as Noumea’s city hall, although was used for this purpose for almost 100 years (from 1877 until 1975).
Local history museums like this one don’t get enough credit as they provide a great overview of the city that you’re visiting, which means that you get a much deeper understanding of the place you are visiting.
Visiting Musée de la Ville de Nouméa (Noumea City Museum)
The museum is located in the heart of the city centre on rue Jean Jaurès on the northern side of Place des Cocotiers.
It is open Monday to Saturday and it is closed for an hour every day between noon and 1pm. Admission is 300F (100F for students and seniors aged 60 and older) and entry is free for disabled visitors and people aged under 18.
39, rue Jean-Jaurès, Nouméa 98800
Bus N4 (stop: Ballande), L1 (stop: Carre Roland)
Phone +687 26 28 05
Website www.noumea.nc
Email mairie.musee@ville-noumea.nc
Open Mon–Sat 9am–noon & 1pm–5pm
Admission 300F, children (17 and younger) free, seniors (60 and over) 100F, students 100F
