Manglieu 0
Manglieu
Circuit des vieux métiers (Old Trade Route)
A small rural commune in the Limagne hills, famous for its abbey, Manglieu had over 1700 inhabitants in 1846, almost four times as many as today.
The entire population of the commune’s various hamlets worked in the fields. They were smallholders, farmers, day labourers or simple agricultural servants, but they all earned their livelihood from the land.
In the village, work was more varied. Many men worked directly for the farmers, such as wheelwrights, blacksmiths, ferriers and millers. Others worked as clog-makers, bricklayers, carpenters and weavers. Some trades were occupied only by women: laundresses, ironers and seamstresses.
Whether they were bosses, employees, apprentices or servants, they were all essential to the running of a community that lived in virtual autarky (economic self-sufficiency). The village warden ensured law and order were respected, the village priest ensured the salvation of souls and the rural postman carried news of the outside world from farm to farm.
Many of these pursuits have now disappeared. The walk between the village and the hamlets invites you to rediscover the variety of trades and the people of the commune who once practised them.
- The village priest
- The fuller
- The farmer
- The wheelwright
- The blacksmith-ferrier
- The postman
- The miller
- The laundresses
- The Abbey Church of Manglieu
Length of route: 4.3 km