Les Ateliers du Jour, a new district | Creusot Montceau Tourist Office

The nerve center of the mine

When the Compagnie des Mines de Blanzy was created in 1833, it set up on the banks of the Canal du Centre, at a place called Le Montceau, which a few years later became Montceau-les-Mines. The first building, called the “maison d’administration”, was built for the management.

In the ^mid-19th century, the site was expanded with the addition of offices and workshops. It was here that the tools and machines used by the miners were manufactured or repaired.

The complex, the nerve center of the mine, continued to expand until the first half of the ^20th century, as activities expanded. There are fitting shops, a forge, a foundry, a sawmill and a carpentry, a boiler works, a mill, a gasworks and gasometers, warehouses, stables and more. For a long time, access to this industrial district across the canal from the town center was reserved exclusively for miners and personnel.

Ateliers Du Jour Montceau Les Mines@lesleywilliamson 4

A cultural hub

on a rehabilitated site

After coal mining came to a complete halt in 2000, the offices and workshops were decommissioned, and a long campaign of works began in 2004. The floors were cleaned up and some of the buildings demolished.

Since 2009, the former offices and workshops have been home to Ateliers du Jour, a cultural center named in reference to the work done on the surface, during the day, as opposed to the work of underground miners. The renovated buildings and modern extensions now house a media library, a community conservatory, an auditorium, an amateur arts center and a youth center.

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the neighborhood

Les Ateliers du Jour is at the center of a new district, Les Équipages, which extends over the former mining area.

Step through the entrance gate, marked with the company’s name, and cross the porch. Stroll through the streets of the district: the redevelopment of the buildings provides a summary of the evolution of industrial architecture in the ^19th and ^20th centuries.

You’ll discover a new face of Montceau-les-Mines.

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A cultural hub