Textile Industry

The textile, in Roanne

The textile is at the heart of the history of Roanne, that was in the nineteenth century a great worker town of the textile industry. The Roanne audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this industrial past that shaped the town, its population and its identity, in the wake of Lyon.

The great worker town of the textile

Did you know that Roanne was, in the nineteenth century, a worker town almost as important as Lyon? It too was indeed renowned for its textile industry, that developed strongly, notably when the crisis of the canuts broke out in Lyon. At this moment, a part of the textile activity moved towards Roanne, that became a great centre of production. The town specialised over time in certain manufactures, like cotton and knitwear, and numerous factories, manufactures and workshops settled there, employing an important worker population. This industry profoundly shaped the town: its urbanism, with its worker districts and its factories, its population, come sometimes from afar to work, and its economy, that knew prosperity and crises according to the conjunctures. Roanne remained for a long time a capital of knitwear and textile, before the decline of this sector in the twentieth century, facing the international competition. This industrial past remains an essential part of the identity and the memory of the town, that you find in its heritage and its social history. An industrial past and a worker memory, the textile is an essential facet of the discovery of Roanne.

What to see

Here you discover the textile past of Roanne, a worker town of the nineteenth century almost as important as Lyon, whose industry developed notably during the crisis of the canuts; specialised in cotton and knitwear, the town covered itself with factories and worker districts and remained for a long time a capital of the textile, this past remaining an essential part of its identity and its memory. The textile is an essential facet of Roanne. It is a facet to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The textile heritage of Roanne is discovered over the town, reachable on foot, through its industrial heritage, its old worker districts and its museums or places dedicated to this history, that follow their own hours and conditions. It is best to inquire at the tourist office before coming.

Why was Roanne a great town of the textile?

Because in the nineteenth century, it became a worker town almost as important as Lyon for its textile industry, that developed notably during the crisis of the canuts in Lyon; specialised in cotton and knitwear, Roanne covered itself with factories and worker districts and remained for a long time a capital of the textile.

Where to discover the textile heritage of Roanne?

Over the town of Roanne, through its industrial heritage and its old worker districts, in France.