Rehabilitating the local heritage in Thiers

Located in the Valley of the Factories in Thiers (63), the Mondière forges specializing in forging by stamping knife blades, have been at a standstill since 1984. For a few years however, under the impetus of the municipality and the region, this old cutlery is the subject of special attention, aiming to restore the former prestige of this former industrial heritage.

The hydraulic power of the Durolle was used in Thiers from the Middle Ages to move the flour mills, the fullers of the tanners, the mallets of the paper makers, and with the development of cutlery, the swifts of the founders and the grindstones of the grinders.

From the 15th century, a quarter of the Thiers population worked as a cutler. The objects produced in the valley are gradually exported to several countries: Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey and “to India”.

Listed as a historical monument since 2002, the Mondière forges factory is part of a vast rehabilitation project for the attractiveness of the region, in which the Michelin Corporate Foundation wished to join in partnership with the Fondation du patrimoine (Heritage Foundation).