Les Forges des Salles was both one of the most important and best preserved wood forges in Brittany, and a complete village with houses arranged according to a social hierarchy! This particularly unusual place is the most beautiful example of Morbihan's industrial heritage.
A village...
A blacksmith is a blacksmith, and there were about 600 of them at the height of the site. It was therefore necessary to provide accommodation. On the site, we will find the beautiful forge master's house, the two-storey foremen's houses and the workers' more modest dwellings, composed of a single room, and aligned side by side along the "blacksmiths' row".
The whole is in perfect condition, and can be visited "in situation", i. e. with the period furniture.
Obviously, life also had to be able to take place outside the home, so there was a school, a canteen, a chapel, gardens, a bread oven, a coffee shop, a laundry room...
They are a testimony to the working life of the 18th and 19th centuries
An association, the association of the Friends of the Forges des Salles, mainly composed of descendants of families who have worked on the site, organize free or guided tours, and maintain the premises, even engaging in major restoration work.
A museum...
Since 2015, he has been able to open a museum divided into about ten visit rooms. They are treated the themes of health, the place of women and children, marriage, social policy, at the time.
The history of the Iron and Steel Industry and the Forges, charcoal, iron ore, and, around these techniques and materials, the life of Breton workers and their families in the forest, in the forge, and on a daily basis in their community, are also evoked in an exciting way.
Around....
How not to advise you to complete your visit with a detour to the superb Lake Guerlédan or the nearby Electricity Museum...
Les Forges des Salles
Forêt de Quénécan
56480 Sainte-Brigitte
Tél. : 07 83 14 70 63
ou 06 19 60 55 10
http://www.lesforgesdessalles.fr/
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Click on the image
