The tobacco museum in Bergerac on the banks of the river Dordogne is housed in an impressive Renaissance building, “La Maison Peyrarède”. It is the only museum in France dedicated to this subject and presents the origins, history, cultivation and social use of tobacco.

The tobacco plant was cultivated and consumed by native Americans long before it came to Europe. Tobacco was present in the natural environment there and was very important to the natives in terms of religion, initiation rites and medicine.

If you would to read more about the history of tobacco in the Dordogne, why not pick up a copy of my book, My Dordogne Life, available on Amazon.