Located in the Saint-Georges quarter of the Vieux Lyon district, the Musée des Automates de Lyon (Automatons Museum) celebrates a very particular aspect of Lyon’s puppeteering heritage; this small museum holds a collection of over 250 automated puppets, throughout seven rooms and twenty animated scenes. All of the robotic puppets were made in the museum’s own workshop.

History

In 1946, the Ema family opened their original artisan workshop for the production of automatons. Their primary function at this time was the production of advertising automatons used in shop window displays. On the 8th of December 1991, the present day museum was opened under the name of “Le Renaissance des Automates”.

Since 2007, the renamed “Musée des Automates” has been managed by the ASG-EMA Foundation.

The museum still has a functioning workshop which manufactures advertising automatons for shop windows, or which may be hired for particular events such as Christmas displays, or trade shows. The automatons which are used in the tour are regularly rotated and replaced.

Visitors learn about the manufacture of the automatons, and then enjoy the animated scenes which presently include: Rabelais’ “Gargantua” by Rabelais, Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, a scene dedicated to Lyon’s own Guignol, Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, work in the fields inspired by Millet’s series of paintings, the lives of Lyon’s Canuts, Peter Pan, Zorro, and Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues under the sea”. The displays may change with the seasons.

The visit also features a treasure hunt for children.

Children’s activities

On a number of Wednesday mornings throughout the year the museum organises special activities for children, including a children’s guided tours and a puppet making workshop. Normally this is from 10.00am – 12.00 pm. By reservation only. Dates and information are available on the museum’s website. https://www.museeautomates.com/en/

Visit time: Approximately one hour.

Address: 100 rue St Georges, 69005 Lyon

Transport: From the Vieux Lyon – Cathédral Saint-Jean metro station (line D), the museum is approximately 500m walk via Rue du Doyenné. By bus, number 31 stops at St Georges, 250m from the museum.

Opening hours:

Open daily from 2:00pm – -6:00pm  (last entry at 5:15pm). 

Closed on the 1st of May, the 25th of December and Monday bank holidays.

Prices: 

Full price : €7.00

Reduced price : €5.00 

Group rate available for groups of 10 or more people.

  • Group adults: €6.00
  • Group children : €4.50

Free entry for children under 3 years.


Accessibility: 

Accessible for wheelchairs with assistance.