Maison Natale Ernest Renan

Push open the doors of this 17th century timber-framed ship-owner's house, where Ernest Renan (1823-1892) spent the first 15 years of his life, to find a host of articles, documents and souvenirs about the renowned thinker and writer. A liberal thinker, advocating the right to criticise the Church, he played an important role in creating the lay society of the France of today. The spartan, almost stark, schoolboy's room, beneath the rafters, already suggests the air of meditation and sober reflection that must have been the hallmarks of this 19th century 'lay saint'. In another room, a reconstruction of his office at the College de France. An opportunity to get to know a bit more about this respected intellectual, from his childhood through to the mature, famous thinker and author.

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