European Heritage Days at the Archaeological Museum of the Old Parish

Housed in the former Romanesque church of Notre-Dame, this museum displays archaeological collections from excavations carried out in the region from prehistoric times to the 18th century. It is run by the Rochefort Geographical Society.

Exhibition: Joseph-René Bellot (1826–1853), romantic hero of polar exploration
An exhibition organised to mark the bicentenary of his birth. Bellot, a man of humble origins from Rochefort, became a naval officer upon graduating from the Naval Academy. He drowned accidentally in the ice at the age of 27 whilst searching for the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, following in the footsteps of the missing English navigator and explorer, Sir John Franklin. In Rochefort, an imposing and distinctive cenotaph was erected in his memory in the civil cemetery. Joseph René Bellot is thus one of the few ‘illustrious’ figures in Rochefort’s heritage, from the heyday of the Navy.
Reissued and expanded brochure.

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