Historical Town Center Tour N° 1
1st : From the mountain to the plain
After the village of Hautpoul was taken and destroyed in the 12th century by Simon de
Montfort, the inhabitants settled in the valley on the banks of the river Arnette, forming a
small town which was the origin of Mazamet. Because of the mountainous environment and
infertile lands, the peasants had to develop a textile industry which complemented their low
revenues. This industry rapidly grew, but was thwarted by the religious wars of the 16th
century. During these battles, the town, although in Protestant hands, was ravaged by the
Catholics troops of the Prince of Condé in 1628. The return of peace in the second half of the
19th century enabled the textile industry to develop once more. A new trade was born : the
wool trade. The original technique consisted in separating the wool from the skins of the
sheep ; it became the major industry of the town, which had been gaining a world-wide
reputation. This venture determined a peculiar urban organisation where industrial buildings
were constructed nearby the middle-class dwellings, the maison Fuzier being a good example.
« It is as if a small town came down with an avalanche... when you look at Mazamet, this
appears to be true, Mazamet has descended from the mountains. The town is happy, active,
and young, yet, has a fierce and wild side to its character, one of the blackest of the old
feudal towns... its grandfather’s name is Hautpoul ».
1st : Hautpoul, the Cathar
According to the legend, Hautpoul was founded in 413 by the king of the Wisigoths, Ataulph
1st. Constructed on a mountainous peak at the extreme edge of a mass of rocks overlooking
the valleys Arnette and Thoré, the village made a formidable fortress. The « low castle » was
rebuilt in 936 by Pierre Raymond, founder of the House of Hautpoul whose lords, vassals of
the mighty Trencavels of Carcassonne reigned on a vast territory, from Labruguière to SaintAmans--Soult. The lords of Hautpoul gave themselves the title of « Kings of the Black
Mountain ». During the crusade against the Albigeois, Simon de Monford took over this
stronghold in April 1212, after four days of siege. He demolished the castles and the city
walls in order to « reduce this heretic den to nothing ».
Afterwards, the inhabitants of Hautpoul left the village for a while and settled in the valley, so
Mazamet was born.
During the 16th century when Protestantism implanted itself in the region, Hautpoul had been
through some troubled times since the village passed alternatively to the hands of the
Catholics and the Reformed Church. The ancient fortress progressively lost its influence
during the 18th century because of the industrial development of Mazamet.
Restauration work in the village and the numerous summer festivals are now giving back its
lustre and bringing the village back to life.
2nd : The spirit of pioneering
Mazamet did not officially become a real textile centre until 1586. The town specialised in the
fabrication of woollen blankets called « cordelots ». The profits gained in the dyeing and
finishing process often benefited the middlemen more than the manufacturers. At the end of
the 18th century some Mazametain manufacturers decided to make the end-products
themselves, giving a more superior quality to their material. Meanwhile, they left to conquer
new markets, organising representatives’ tours around France, establishing themselves in
Paris and London. A symbolic figure of this pioneer spirit, Pierre-Elie Houlès a remarkable
industrial from Mazamet, was renowned for numerous innovations, notably the introduction of
the first Jacquard loom in Mazamet in 1837, he was also at the origin of sheepskin
fellmongering.
2nd : The change of the town
It was in 1794 that a rich textile manufacturer, Philippe Olombel, purchased the estate called
« La Sagne » to the Baron of Hautpoul, one of the last descendants of the Lords of Hautpoul.
Little by little, the Olombel’s heirs sold the fields surrounding the castle ; magnificent
residences were erected up until the beginning of the 20th century, thus the ancient property of
the local nobility became the new upper middle-class quarter in town. This district is
significant of the evolution and the industrial history of Mazamet for two reasons : above all, it
was the place where the local industrialists’ residences are situated, and it is also a perfect
example of mixed urbanisation, where the residences are quite near to a large number of
buildings connected with the wool trade, including the offices and warehouses which were
used to store the wool.
3rd : Fellmongering
During the second half of the 19th century, the growth of the textile industry was thwarted by
problems in the supply of raw materials. At this time the wool came exclusively from the sheep
of the Languedoc, from the Provence and Spain. It was necessary to find a solution to this
supply problem. In 1851, a local manufacturer, Pierre Elis Houlès, had the idea to import
sheepskins from Argentina. Quite a few years where necessary to put to work the original
technique of the sheepskinning, which enabled for the first time the separating of the wool
from the leather without causing any damage to either. This procedure consisted as follows:
firstly, the skins were put into soaking basins to soften the skins ; secondly, they were cleared
of their impurities by the « sabrage » before being placed in a drying oven where they
underwent a controlled fermentation which dilated the pores of the skin. The intervention of
the « peeler » with a sort of knife allowed to separate the wool from the skin by a simple
« scraping » of the skin. Once dried, the wool was stocked in large warehouses, the leather
skins being dispatched to the tanneries in Mazamet and in Graulhet.
3rd : The warehouses
The narrowness of the Arnette valley, where the majority of the wool factories are situated,
allowed only the treatment of the skins. Large spaces were needed to stock the wool, the huge
warehouses needed were situated in the town centre. Supplies of sheepskins came from
Argentina and Uruguay, later, from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Each of these
countries reared different races of sheep, enabling Mazamet to offer such a wide range of
wool’s that no other producer could match. When the wool brokers came into the stores to take
samples, they could satisfy any order from their French an foreign clients, in quantity and
quality, in less than a week ! Mazamet gained a important market share in the wool industry
because a large capacity of storage and the ability to raise cash were needed in order to sell
at the right time and buy under the most favourable terms..
4th : Between palladien style and classical style
Throughout the 19th century, the industrial development of Mazamet encouraged the growth of
a « bourgeoise » architecture. Two styles were very fashionable : the palladien and the
classical trends. The palladien architecture appeared between 1830 and 1880, houses
constructed on these lines followed certain regulations : rectangular design, roof in slate or
tiles, Italian style decoration, relatively pure with ornamental fronts and pillars. These
constructions looked like country houses of the 18th century. From the 1880’s the neo-classic
style, inspired by the mansions of the Parisian upper middle-class became pre-dominant,
characterised by an accentuation in the height of the building and arranging the roofs in the
« Mansard » style with bullseye attic windows. The iron, cast iron, and the glas, generally used
in the 19th-century architecture, were not praised by the Mazemetains. Their dwellings, with
their imposing aspect, presented a sober, but harmonious exterior decoration.
5th : The religions
In the 13th century the « bloody » religious battles in the south of France gave Mazamet a
particular echo. It all started 1212 with the destruction of the village of Hautpoul, convicted of
Cathar heresy. The crusade against the Albigeois allowed Rome to re-affirm its power in the
region. In the 16th century the Haut Languedoc became a stronghold of the Reformed Church.
The religion wars in the region lasted longer and were more violent than in the rest of the
kingdom. After a period of relative peace, the persecutions re-appeared : « dragonnades »,
forced conversions, exiles following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) and arrests
with the « Assemblies of Desert » as far as 1745. At the time of the Calas affaire, Mazamet
knew a similar case. In fact, Pierre-Paul Sirven, accused of the murder of his daughter who
wanted to convert to Catholicism, was condemned to death. Forced to flee, he owed his
rehabilitation to Voltaire.
5th : Places of worship
The economic rise of the town with the development of the wool trade caused a considerable
growth in the population of Mazamet which doubled in less than 50 years, reaching more than
14,600 habitants in 1886. This rise was explained by the massive arrival of labour force
originating from the neighbouring campaigns, essentially Catholic. The Church of « SaintSauveur » rapidly became insufficient, it was therefore necessary to envisage the construction
of a second place of worship : the church of « Notre-Dame ».
Anxious to preserve the goodwill between the communities, the town council decided to erect a
second temple, this is how the Temple Neuf, of which you can admire the classical façade,
was built in 1866 in the heart of the « La Sagne » quarter, principally inhabited by an
industrial Protestant population.
6th : The golden comb
Once upon a time there was a lady who lived in our county. Nobody knew if she was a fairy or
a princess but she was so beautiful that the birds flew around her chirping happily. Her name
was Saurimonde. Every morning when the sun came out to warm the countryside, she walked
barefooted in the river Arnette. She let her magnificent hair loose that she untangled with a
golden comb. Admiring her reflection in the water, she leant too far, lost her balance and her
golden comb fell from her hands. It swirled for one instant in the torrent then disappeared,
carried away by the water crossing the rocks and pebbles. The beautiful lady cried out, loud
and tears fell down her cheeks, she hid her face in her hands to mask her sadness. When
she re-opened her eyes a little while later, a miracle had happened, the water in the Arnette
burst into millions of twinkling stars, covered in grains of gold. The beautiful lady regained
her smile, because, all around her, houses had appeared, and people were bustling around
on the banks of the river. She took a bow, then in a gust of wind, disappeared in a cloud
which passed at that moment over the rock of Haupoul. She has never been seen since.
6th : The abundance of the water
Whatever intervention of the fairy Saurimonde was, it is certain that the presence of the river
Arnette was a decisive factor in the industrial development of Mazamet. Even if an embryonic
textile industry appeared in the valley in the 13th century, it took only a seasonal turn. In the
16th century, fulling mills were built up along the river in order to beat the material thanks to
the hydraulic power. In 1586, a dozen or so of these fulling mills were counted, more than half
on the canal Nogarède that the Lords of Hautpoul had just planned in town centre nearby
where you are standing
Progressively, these mills were replaced by more important textile factories, which conserved
the ancient paddle wheels, used to start the machining. Around the 19th century the town
knew, as a matter of fact, a notable modification of its urban landscape, being lined with high
chimneys and large industrial buildings.
By 1880, above all with the success of the wool trade, the industrials went to conquer the
valley of the Arnette. By 1950, all the favourable sites along the river had been exploited. The
« road of factories » was born.
7th : foreign trade
During the 1930’s, the massive importation of sheepskins (more than 50,000 tons a year)
originating from Argentina, Australia and South Africa, plus the exportation of more than
30,000 tons of wood destinated to France and foreign textile centres placed Mazamet one of
the most influential town in international trade.
The banking and financial organisations of the town revealed its clout. As a proof, we can
found at least 26 banks in the agglomeration ! In addition to the Bank of France, Mazamet has
welcomed the subsidiaries of the main credit companies,(Comptoir National d’Escompte,
Société Générale, Caisse d’Epargne, Crédit Lyonnais, Banque Française du Rio de La
Plata,...). The National Bank for Foreign Trade owned only 8 offices, including one in
Mazamet.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, founded in 1863, became the first commercial
organisation represented in Mazamet, established in a superb building on the Cours René
Reille since 1913
7th : Saint-Sauveur
In 1741, the town council decided to construct the church of Saint-Sauveur on the site of the
ancient Protestant temple. The new Catholic building, the Saint-Jacques church, was opened
for worship only in 1761, after several delays, notably due to the weak foundations, which
risked to provoke a collapsing of the arch a little while after its erection. It was therefore
necessary to call in Parisian engineers to lay the arch on a scaffolding and to re-build more
solid foundations before the church could welcome the parishioners in all security.
8th : From church to temple
The bell that can be seen above the roofs is the one of the Saint-Jacques Church, first religious
building in Mazamet. Constructed at the beginning of the 16th century,it was prohibited from
worship when the town was in Protestant hands from 1565 to 1668. So it was in a very
devastated building that the Catholic services were celebrated afresh. Following the
construction of the church of Saint-Sauveur, the church of Saint-Jacques was gradually
deserted.
At the beginning of the 19th century the Protestant community were proposed to rebuild their
church on the ruins of the old church. The project was accepted and was commenced on the
old site, conserving the old church bell, which had at one time been used as a prison.
8th : The town hall
Following the floods of 1826, which swept away the old grain hall, the council decided, in
1837, the construction of a new building for the fairs and the markets. The inhabitants of each
side of the river Arnette both wanted to have the honour of wellcoming the building ; so it was
decided to build a jetty over the river.
In 1844 the council offices were installed on the 1st floor of the hall, up until now located in the
Estrabaut House. They took over the whole of the building following the closing of the grain
hall in 1973.
The waters of the Arnette originally flowed into the town via the Nogaréde canal and the mud
coming from the fellmongering instigated some dirty and nauseating smells. Therefore, it was
decided to cover the river in front and behind the town hall and to construct the dock of the
Arnette in 1926 and the dock of Cazenave in 1955.
9th : The Grand Balcon
Constructed around 1850, the Grand Balcon was the mansion of the Cormouls-Houlès. This
family influenced the local industrial life during several generations. Rapidly a « circle » of
Mazametain entrepreneurs assembled and held meetings on the ground floor.
In 1926, under a new ownership, it was decided to completely reorganise the building which
had become the most prestigious hotel-restaurant in the region. The terrace bustled with
activity, and became the privileged centre of business where industrialists and
representatives concluded profitable business deals.
The size of the building, the sumptuousness of the exterior decoration, notably a superb
balcony as well as its central location made this house one of the most elegant buildings in the
town.
9th : Political life
The junction of the cours René Reille and the street Edouard Barbey ironically puts together
two people who had marked the political life in Mazamet. Deeply opposed in their combat, they
illustrated the two main political trends under the Third Republic.
René Reille (1835-1898), descending from a glorious line of marshals ( including Soult and
Masséna), belonged to the pro-monarchist and moralis right-wing. Supported by the Catholics,
the « King of the Mountains » won all his legislative elections against his opponent Edouard
Barbey.
As a liberal representative and a leftist layman, Edouard Barbey (1831-1905) was elected
mayor of Mazamet and senator of the Tarn during more than 20 years, and Minister of the
Navy hoop and colonies three times running. Faithful servant of Mazamet, he left all his estate
to the town.
Mazamet is marked by a peculiar political life. The left-wing Republicans supported by the
Protestant industrialist were opposed to the Conservatives who were favoured by the
Catholics, which included the majority of the labour force.
« The chiefs are Protestants and their title is sufficient in that the workers do not vote like them
and do vote in the same way of their priest. » (Edouard Barbey, 1877)
Historical Town Center Tour N° 2
1st : The banking organisation
The vitality of the industry in Mazamet, plus the large amount of business and
international trade called for a new adjustment of the local bank system. In 1930, more than
26 banks, established in the town centre, were carrying out daily credit operations for
importation, the buying of foreign currency and letters of credit. These transactions, which
were considerable at that time and unusual for a small town of 17,000 inhabitants made
Mazamet « the great trade centre in the Toulouse region « (G . Roux, 1929). It is still
remembered that more than one million francs were transferred from Mazamet to Buenos
Aires in less than 10 minutes en 1928. Emblematic figure of this organisation, the Bank of
France, opened one of its branches in 1902, in the splendid building in front of you, on the
main commercial street of the town. Fourth-ranged out of 129 on trading work, this branch
contributed for managing colossal sums invested by the industrialists and the agents in their
business.
1st : The architectural influences
At the beginning of the 20 th century, the estate of Lagoutine, situated along the « Jardin
des Promenades », was divided up, what permitted the development of a new residential area.
Most of the parcels were bought by the expatriates of Mazamet, on their return from South
America, where they had been managing the business of skin buying abroad. They belonged
to a « second generation » of businessmen, taking over from the first wave of textile
manufacturers who were established in the neighbourhood of « La Sagne ». Apart from the
splendid villas in a classical style, with their high railings and wrought iron gates protecting
them from the road, these expatriates got also houses built, which were inspired by the life in
South America. These buildings referred to the colonial style of the French quarter in BuenosAires.
2nd : Transports
The first bales of skins, coming from South America, arrived after two months in the port
of Bordeaux from where they were then sent to Mazamet by rail. Afterwards, trade
relationships were established with Marseilles and Sète which received material coming
respectively from Australia, New Zealand and North Africa. Once at the station the bales were
then transported to the different factories in the valley of Arnette by chariots pulled by horses
and, more recently, by lorries. The extent of foreign trade involving the different industries in
Mazamet (fellmongering, textile and leather) aroused the interest of the biggest navigation
companies and both sea and land transport associations, encouraging them to found agencies
in Mazamet (Compagnie Péninsulaire and Orientale, General Steam Navigation Co Ltd,
Gondrand Brothers, Hernu-Péron...)
2nd : The Packaging House
The expansion of the fellmongering industry was such that it became a necessity to
rapidly re-organise it. Some unfair practices which came about, notably during the packing of
wool, were prejudicial to the reputation of Mazamet. Actually, the wool naturally absorbs the
humidity in the air, its weight either increases or decreases according to the surrounding
hygrometry. The wool, being sold per kilo, there could have been notable differences between
the time when it left Mazamet and its time of arrival, a cause for complaints from the buyers. It
was very tempting to profit from a saturated atmosphere or from a puddle of water to increase
the weight of the bales. So, the water could be paid the same price as the wool ! An institution
was therefore created in order to determine the exact weight of the merchandise and to
arbitrate between buyers and sellers : the Packaging House. This structure was set up on the
31st December 1899, at Charles Sabatié’s instigation. The bales of wool, on arrival in the
warehouses, underwent a series of examinations (taking of samples, weighing of bales,
thorough drying, weighing of the samples...), what allowed to assess the real weight invoiced
to the buyers. Once this had been done, the merchandise could then be sent to the client’s by
rail. The Conditioning House is situated at the end of the Avenue Sabatié, along the rail way.
3rd : The Lagoutine’s castle
The lands surrounding Mazamet that belonged to the nobles of Hautpoul since the
Middle Ages, were gradually bought up by the rich middle-class and the local business
people. Among them, Pierre Bosviel (1694-1754), ennobled under the name of Lagoutine,
purchased a vast extent of lands on which one of his descendants had a manor built about
1810. This building which stands in front of you, is the work of the Earl of Milhau who also
designed the castles of Saint-Amans-Valtoret and Sauveterre. At the beginning of the 20th
century, Henri Jamme de Lagoutine sold the lands around his domain little by little. That is
why, from 1907 to 1928, many houses were built by the industrialists of the « second
generation ». Towards 1930-1935, other constructions gradually encircled up the Lagoutine’s
castle.
3rd : The expatriates
During the second half of the 19th century, as trading sheepskins became a real
industry, the distance of the skin-exporting countries and transport problems became a real
handicap that had to be surmounted. Following Augustin Périé, the main industrialists in
Mazamet founded their own trading posts abroad. These offices, first set up in Argentina and
Uruguay, permitted to dispatch the skins bought in the Pampa and the slaughter houses to the
ports. Graded, then packaged in the form of bales, the skins were then sent to France by boat.
Rapidly, other agencies were opened in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The
managers were young men who had often started out as simple employees at big
industrialists’ in Mazamet (Cormouls-Houlès, Guiraud, Daure, Rives...). Having been noticed
for their honesty and their ambition, they had been chosen to represent their company abroad.
They spent many years abroad and, owing to their work, a good salary and the cheap cost of
living, they were able to amass a fortune called « pelote » (little fold mine). On returning to
France they used this money to set up their own business and to build their own manors.
4th : Textile and Hosiery
Even though the textile industry had been present since the Middle Ages, it really only
took off from the middle of the 18th century, notably thanks to the initiative of men who knew
how to use the motive power of the river Arnette and the experience of local workers. Among
the industrialists, Pierre Olombel was certainly the one who contributed the most to this
development. Owner of an important firm founded in 1760, he introduced in the Tarn a new
kind of material, called « the good drapery of Aude ». This new product was added to the soft
or thick flannels and « espagnolettes » (window fastener) that were already being exported
over France, the west Indies, Italy and Canada. In the middle of the 19th century, the town
had 46 drapery manufactures and 20 spinning mills. The textile activity was diversified with
the starting of hosiery. The making of socks, layettes, scarves, ties, coats and sweaters was
added to that of bonnets for seamen. In 1926, Casimir Durand completed this large range by
the production of Basque Berets, which found its main outlet in the United States. More than
one million berets, that is to say 100 tons of wool from the fellmongeries, were made by the
factories in Mazamet.
4th : Diversified industries
The cleverness and the skills of the pioneer fellmongers rested on the exploitation of the
skins, considered at that time as a waste and therefore left in the Pampa of South America.
The invention of a very simple industrial process permitted them to obtain two row products :
the wool and the skin. The wool which was locally produced helped to build a textile industry
in Mazamet, and supplied the main manufactory centres before being exported to the north of
France, England and Belgium. The « cuirots », of which the selling covered the expenses
engaged by the fellmongers, were sent to Graulhet, which became the world centre for leather
regarding the volume treated. Gradually, tanneries were built in Mazamet and, by 1930, they
were more than 40. This new leather industry made way for numerous manufactories which
made gloves, lined mittens, shoes, wallets, hand-bags and purses. Apart from the « cuirots » ,
the treatment of skins made way for multiple by-products used in the factories such as glue
and organic fertilisers.
5th : The Apollo theatre
At the death of Edouard Barbey, his domain was left to the town in order to improve the
working condition in the factories. The commune of Mazamet, which owes a part of the area
situated in front of you, envisaged several projects at the beginning of the 20th century. In
order to calm the union movement baked by strikes in 1909, « The House of the People » was
supposed to be built, with rooms for meetings and conferences, showers and baths and other
social equipment. Presented by the mayor Philippe Bonnafous, this structure was never to be,
due to a lack of funds. Several years later, in 1923, the town had took up the project again, an
Employment Exchange, a day nursery and a gymnasium were part of it. The cinema-theatre
Apollo was inaugurated in 1936. It was once one of the best in the region and was visited by
many music-hall artists. In 1984, after 45 years of loyal services, the building was closed
because of the decay, and the local council studied the preparation of a multifunctional
cultural centre to replace it.
5th : The Apollo arts centre
Inaugurated in 1994 by Jacques Toubon, Minister for Culture, the Apollo arts centre, a
modern and luminous building on the site of the former theatre is the outcome of an ambitious
cultural programme carried out by Mazamet for many years. « The glass cube » is today a
place of privileged exchanges. Its theatre is one of the greatest stages in Midi-Pyrénées for the
quality of its programmes, and its two big rooms are used for plays and entertainment (378
and 180 places) there is also a cinema and a room for exhibitions (photography, painting,
sculpture and scientific exhibitions). The media library, determinedly turned to the future,
provides more than 40,000 documents, plus an important multimedia section. Almost a
century after the generous donation by Edouard Barbey, the Apollo arts centre has imposed
itself as « the House of the People » so much wanted by Mazamet.