The Savonnerie Nationale at Lodève

An annex of the Savonnerie was given over to a carpet-making workshop with Royal approval, later to be nationalised.

Arts and craft industry

The Savonnerie Nationale at Lodève - Arts and craft industry

It dates back to Henry IV and takes its name from an old soap factory established by Louis XIII in 1627. The present carpet workshop at Lodève was started in 1966 and has been based in these premises since 1990. The workshop produces carpets based on the works of contemporary artists like Paulin, Hajdu, Lalane, and Morellet and reproduces carpets from the 17th - 19th centuries. These carpets form part of the State Collection and adorn the offices of official buildings such as embassies, ministries, and the Elysée Palace. As an annex of the national Gobelins carpet factory, this workshop maintains the know-how of fine Parisian manufacturing processes. 

Stylised reproductions of carpets (though not tapestries), are produced as identical copies of ancient carpets or more contemporary fashions such as the reproduction of works by Stéphane Bordarier, Julien Gardair or Matali Crasset.

Time has no limit in this place where it takes between 4 to 7 years to produce a carpet. The Savonnerie is both timeless and completely out of the ordinary and safeguards the excellence of traditional professions in cloth-making.

Visits upon reservation only every Thursday 10.30 am, 2pm and 3.30pm and on Fridays at 10.30am and 2pm.

Impasse des liciers
34700 LODEVE
Téléphone filaire : 33 (0)4 67 88 86 44
Télécopieur /fax : 33 (0)4 67 44 07 56
E-mail: tourisme@lodevoisetlarzac.fr
http://www.lodevoisetlarzac.fr