An example of an industry that has spanned the centuries : the paper mill

You use it every day, but do you know how paper is made ? Come and discover it in Aude, 20 km from Carcassonne, in this still wild place called the Montagne Noire. A river, the Dure, winds at the foot of the Mountain for 17 short miles, but with such a flow, and so stable, that its banks were home to 67 mills in the 19th century, out of the 617 in the department. In the village of Brousses, 10 mills, including 6 paper mills, provided the raw material needed for the prosperous cloth industry which was one of the jewels of Carcassonnais, thanks to the 5 royal factories established in this region of Languedoc under the impetus from Colbert. During the interwar period, the mills also produced cardboard which was used to make suitcases, dolls like the famous Bella or the interior of 4CVs. Since then, the industry has been transformed and almost all the mills have closed. But not the paper mill of Brousses and Villaret, which an association has transformed into an educational and historical center for the promotion of artistic crafts and which today welcomes thousands of amazed visitors.

During your visit, you will not only learn everything you need to know about papermaking from Antiquity to the present day, but you will also be able to witness this production, and even get your hands dirty ! What is this dough made of ? It is made from linen, hemp, cotton - by recycling fabrics - but also, in a more original way, from fern, lavender, nettle, linden leaves, rice straw, grape stems, and even horse or…elephant droppings, straight from the Sigean African reserve !

Come discover these hidden treasures in our provinces !