Lapérouse Museum

This museum is dedicated to the fabulous round-the-world trip of the Albi sailor, Lapérouse. To access this museum, one crosses the Pont Vieux to reach Botany Bay Square. From this terrace you can appreciate one of the finest panoramas of the Episcopal City: the river, the scows on the Tarn, the roofs of Old Alby...
Jean-François de Galaup de Lapérouse was a native of Albi, born in 1741 in the Gô Manor House. Louis XVI, France's king at this time, appreciated the human qualities and the seafaring talents of the young naval Captain. He was entrusted with the greatest expedition of Louis XVI's reign, being given 2 ships called the Boussole ("the compass") and the Astrolabe. 225 men, sailors, scientists and artists left Brest in 1785, sailing to Brazil, Chile, California, Alaska, Russia, China, Australia ... and ran aground in Vanikoro (Solomon Islands) in the Pacific in 1788. During this trip, he carried out precise and valuable work on cartography and scientific research.