Ecomusée la Forge

Take a guided tour of the forge on Friday mornings in summer, and all year round for groups. Iron takes shape under the blows of the blacksmith. A simple piece of metal is transformed into a tool, a hinge, a horseshoe…

We explain everything you need to know about the now defunct trades of blacksmith and farrier…
What a racket! The hubbub of the summer streets doesn’t even begin to cover the metallic sound that seems to be coming from the Rue du Barri. It’s easy to spot the place: an old forge opening onto the street, in its original state, full of old tools, where two gentlemen in blackened leather aprons and gloves are at work.
One is preparing the fire by burning coal and anthracite with a huge vintage hand bellows, while the other is pounding cherry red iron at 850°C on a large anvil. The result is pickaxes, rakes, saws and farrier’s irons that bear witness to Seyne’s glorious mulassier past, when it had 3 forges: road iron, winter iron, calf iron and mule iron.
This art, which was once indispensable to farmers, has been perpetuated in the skills and tools used for centuries.
-” Tempering is the blacksmith’s reputation,” he tells us as he dips his tool into a liquid mixture that only he knows the secret of. A true-to-life demonstration.