La Piscine Museum (Musée d'Art et d’Industrie André Diligent)

Far from being a museum dedicated to pools, La Piscine Museum (Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent) in Roubaix is in fact an arts museum houses in a former indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool. This somehow peculiar location was chosen because it features an outstanding art deco interior, having been built in 1927. The swimming pool remained in use until 1985, and was given a second life as an arts museum in 2000. The museum holds items that date back from 1835, most of which were collected from a textile factory that once stood next door. Elements of literature, science and fine arts were added to enhance the collection of historic textiles and to form an extensive exhibition dedicated to the fruitful alliance between applied arts and industry. Some of the most famous paintings and sculptures found at La Piscine include works from Rodin, Picasso, Claudel, Gérôme, Stark, van Dongen and other contemporaries – which, of course, are complimented by the architectural marvel that is La Piscine Museum.