Label "Heritage of the XXth century

Aubusson - Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie creditJ.Damase

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Road trip: 7 monuments labeled “20th century heritage” in the land of Aubusson tapestry

We take you for a ride to discover a heritage that hasn’t aged a bit. Small road trip on the winding roads of La Creuse, from the village of Saint-Maixant through the Capital of Tapestry, and its little sister Felletin, to finish on the Plateau de Millevaches in Gentioux.

When you hear the word “heritage”, you think castles, historical residences, churches several hundred years old… You are right, but some much more recent constructions will not fail to surprise you with their exceptional or atypical architecture as well as the upheavals they have brought in terms of urbanism, social innovation and technical progress. Let’s go!

Published on 15 April 2020

100% Heritage

First stop at

Saint-Maixant

The funeral vault of Pierre Loth

We begin our discovery of monuments labeled “heritage of the twentieth century” with the funeral vault of a local stonecutter: Pierre Loth. At the entrance of the cemetery, the monument attracts the eye by its exceptional dimensions but also the abundance of decorations: symbols of the Companions, animal, plant, geometric decorations, the scale, the Phrygian cap…

Given its quality, this funerary monument was most certainly designed as a masterpiece of companion stonemason. Exercise imposed on any apprentice-companion to be able to pass master by becoming, once the Tour de France completed, companion-finished.

Anecdote: It was in 1900 that Pierre Loth undertook the construction of his vault, that is to say 32 years before his death!

Learn more about Pierre Loth’s burial vault

Direction

Aubusson

Les Bains-douches

Stop at Rue Vaveix, a stone’s throw from the La Terrade bridge. A building flanked by a frieze of lozenges, made of glazed bricks in blue-green and white colors, catches your eye. It is the former shower-baths of the city which functioned from 1927 to 1969. The presence of bathhouses is not exceptional in a city like Aubusson. At the beginning of the century, tuberculosis was ravaging France and was the main target of the hygienists. At the same time many municipalities will have the same facilities built.

Learn more about bathhouses

The Town Hall

Go up the Grande Rue to discover in its middle, the Aubusson Town Hall, a fine example of the Art-Deco style that is very rare in the city: geometric and angular volumes, a roof terrace topped by a square-shaped campanile supporting a clock, the use of modern building materials on the outside (zinc roofs), innovative arrangements on the inside (reinforced cement floors)… The decoration is signed by the architect-decorator Lucien Rollin.

Anecdote: The construction project of this building caused a lot of ink to flow and triggered many polemics, however the inauguration did take place in 1937, in the presence of 3 ministers of the government of Leon Blum.

Learn more about the City Hall

La Maison Denhaut

We end our Aubussonnaise stop, at 7bis de la rue des Déportés, we raise our eyes to contemplate the 5 floors of this Art Nouveau building (neat ironwork, moldings, plant repertoire). In 1906, the Creuse architect François Denhaut had this building constructed to showcase his expertise in the field of construction. He favored comfort and functionality. It will be his “house-claim”.
François Denhaut is the son of a mason from Creuse. After following a family apprenticeship, he settled in Aubusson in the early 1900s and created a public works company there that specialized in the use of reinforced cement.

Learn more about the Maison Denhaut

We go to

Felletin

The Lycée des Métiers du Bâtiment in Felletin

Just at the entrance to the city, this nationally renowned school, established on a campus of more than 18 hectares, can accommodate within its walls 1000 learners! To discover it, go to the belvedere located on the Beaumont hill in Felletin (rue Gustave Degaine). Its construction, which began in 1947, was carried out by the students themselves, as part of their practical training. The various buildings are arranged concentrically around the hill of Les Granges. One of the first swimming pools in La Creuse was even built here! Students are trained in five courses of study from CAP to BTS, including Bacs Pro, BP, Mentions complémentaires or Brevets des Métiers d’Arts.

Further information about the Lycée des Métiers du Bâtiment

Les Ateliers Pinton

Last stop in Felletin, 9 rue Préville, to discover the atypical architecture of the building that houses the Ateliers de tapisseries Pinton. In the 1960s, the activity of this tapestry factory was dispersed among several sites, employing about one hundred people. In a need for rationality, a construction project was entrusted to the well-known architect Jean Willerval. He created in 1973, three bodies of buildings, 2 to 3 levels juxtaposed, grouping offices, an exhibition and sales area, a dyeing workshop, two tapestry weaving workshops, a carpet weaving workshop to which is added a finishing workshop and finally, a wool store with a space devoted to the cardboard maker.

Learn more about the Pinton Workshops

Last stop at

Gentioux

We take the road to the plateau, towards Gentioux, 25 minutes from Felletin, for a last discovery.

The War Memorial

In the center of the town, sits the famous war memorial of the commune. It is one of the ten monuments of pacifist inspiration listed in France. The apostrophe “Damn the war” is highlighted by the raised fist of an orphan, dressed in a smock and clogs. It was inaugurated by local elected officials and the population in 1922, but the prefecture refused to be represented. During their passage, order being given to the troops going to the military camp of La Courtine to turn their heads away.

Anecdote: Never officially inaugurated and long excluded from official ceremonies, it was only in 1985, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new gendarmerie, that the prefect of the department greeted the monument.

Learn more about The War Memorial

Go further

discovery

in your

The Cité Internationale de la Tapisserie, in Aubusson, installed in the former building of the École Nationale d’Art Décoratif, there is a beautiful collection of tapestries of the 20th and 21st centuries (Lurçat, Wogensky, Calder, Gleb…)

The Church of the Castle, in Felletin, becomes in season the setting for an exhibition of tapestries. Its sober interior highlights the modern glass paste windows, a contemporary work by Toulouse artist Henri Guérin, as well as a granite altar and a cross whose plans were drawn by architect Le Corbusier