Grande Forge de Buffon

ATTENTION: The Grande Forge will be closed from Monday 21 August to Saturday 26 August inclusive due to the filming of the TV mini-series "Une amitié dangereuse".

A prestigious example of the iron and steel industry in the Age of Enlightenment, this model factory, which employed 300 workers, combines all the production operations, the workers' dwellings and the master's house on the same site. Built in 1768 by the naturalist Buffon, who used the site for his experiments on smelting, the Forge produced 450 tonnes of iron bars in the 18th century.

A visit to the blast furnace with its ceremonial staircase, the forge with its bellows activated by a paddle wheel, and the splitting plant will enable you to follow the various stages in the transformation of cast iron into iron.

Exhibitions in Buffon's pavilion and the Barn of Forty Oxen, accompanied by 2 films (a docu-drama about Buffon and the work of iron production). The orangery, the garden (former kitchen garden of Buffon's workers), the dovecote and the workers' lodgings are only open during events such as the Rendez-Vous aux Jardins and the Heritage Days (reduced price) or for groups all year round by prior arrangement.