Musée International de la Parfumerie

The Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse explores perfume, its history, and the craft behind its creation. Five buildings, seven levels, and terraces bring together historical displays, exhibitions, workshops, a greenhouse, and an orange-tree garden. Inside, sections move from Antiquity and the Middle Ages through the modern era to contemporary fragrance.

Around 50,000 objects trace Grasse’s perfume heritage, including raw materials, extraction devices, industrial machines, bottles, soap moulds, labels, cosmetics, and advertising posters. The collections grew from Georges Vindry’s work over more than 50 years, while the museum developed from the 1778 Pontevès mansion and opened to the public in 1989. Its displays now give greater space to finished products, bottles, and advertising alongside technical knowledge.

A section of fourteenth-century rampart marks the northern edge, while the entrance preserves the nineteenth-century façade of the Hugues Aîné perfumery. South of Grasse, the associated gardens in Mouans-Sartoux add an olfactory trail, traditional plant species, a butterfly meadow, and more than 700 kinds of plants.