Archaeological Open-Air Museum

With a preparation time between 1988 and 2001, the municipality of Villeneuve d’Asq aimed for an important and attractive open air museum. Here, based on general information instead of specific sites, prehistoric and medieval houses are presented as well as the people constructing them and living there.

In the "Nord" départment, you will find a Gaul / Merovingian / Carolingian “archéosite”. Following archaeological research in the area, this archaeological open air museum came into existence in 1982.

1960 a Bronze Age settlement, a rectangular fortified site, was discovered on a Pleistocene terrace near the river Ščavnica. The site was named Gradišče. In the early 1980s,the western part was excavated by the Murska Sobota Regional Museum.

As early as 1840, Neolithic grave mounds or tumuli were excavated near Bougon leading to what at present is a museum about life and death in the Neolithic Age and beyond. The museum is built around the remains of an old monastery but has a modern look and interior.

Following decades of archaeological excavation in the Talou region (reported about 1,000 archaeological sites), local archaeologists and enthusiasts founded Fatra (Fédération des Archeologues du Talou et des Régions Avoisinantes) in 1999.

The Castro de Santa Tecla (or Santa Tegra) is located in the Southwest tip of Galicia, on top of the Mount Santa Tecla, next to the mouth of the Miño River, in the municipal area of A Guarda (Pontevedra). From this site, a wide part of the coast as well as the mouth of the river Miño could be controlled.

The Iron Age Castro de Cossourado is situated in the middle of the modern day village of Forte da Cidade. It is part of Paredes de Coura region, on Salgosa mountain range, on the north side of the river Coura, dominating a large open area. This used to be an important north-south corridor between the Douro and Minho regions.

The Castro de S. Lourenço in the district of Esposende is part of a series of hill forts which controlled the region’s coastal shipping route. The site gives a great panoramic view and control over both the coastal area and the estuary of the Cávado river.

Paços de Ferreira is situated in the Entre Douro and Minho region, in the Ave Valley area, the heartland of the Castro Culture (Cultura Castreja in Portuguese, Cultura Castreña in Spanish). The walled villages and hill forts dating to the late Bronze Age and Iron Age, the castros, citânias or cividades in this area are larger than elsewhere.

The 50th anniversary of „Lions Club Willisau“ in the municipality of Wauwil, near Luzern needed to be marked with a landmark celebration and an interesting and useful project. The village Wauwil counts about 1600 inhabitants. In 2002, at the Wauwiler moor, a bird watch tower was built thanks to a large investment of time and money of the Lions Club.