INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE

In the ^19th century, Marvejols took advantage of the numerous mills built on the Colagne since the ^14th century to set up textile factories. By 1850, the town had 4 spinning mills, 90 handlooms, 4 fulling mills and 3 dyeing mills. The factories went into decline in the early ^20th century, outdated technically and facing competition from factories in northern France. The last factory closed in 1969. However, a few (privately-owned) buildings remain, providing a glimpse of local economic activity, which employed up to a thousand people, such as the Lignon factory, with its view over Marvejols, and the Pineton factory, which alone employed up to 500 people, built next to an ^18th-century château, the Trivalle factory, the Piquetrabuc factory, the Goutelle factory and the Monplaisir factory, the only one that did not use water power to operate its looms and which produced the felt used by the Saint-Léger-de-Peyre hat factory, which has also disappeared. Marvejols' industrial past lives on today, thanks to a tour proposed by the tourist office: a different look at the city of Henri IV, unusual and fascinating, which will take you on a discovery of six sites. The tour, which starts at the fabrique du Lignon, requires a vehicle to get from one building to the next. However, the brochure published by the tourist office gives details of where to park your car, in addition to the itinerary, so that you can enjoy the tour without having to look for a parking lot.