Villedieu les Poeles is a most interesting village for those with an attraction for crafts and seeking out of the ordinary tourist routes.
The name Villedieu les Poeles litterally means "God Town the frying pans", as it was originally a religious center, which later built its reputation on copper and tin manufacture.
Most fine chefs worldwide use copper pots and pans made in Villedieu les Poeles.
The Atelier du Cuivre (Copper Workhop) is one of the older workshops in Villedieu les Poeles still in activity. You can watch the gestures, the old tools of the tinsmiths, weldsmiths, polishers and hammer smiths. There is a 15 minute film in English, on a large screen, so that you can see how the Copper Workshop combines tradition and progress.
The Bell Foundry is historically very interesting since the bell founders still use all sorts of original tools: an archaic windlass moving along a wooden trail helps to carry the loam over the pits to build the moulds.
A unique reverberating oven of 20 tons, to melt the alloy of copper and tin, occupies the middle of the factory.
On one side, a craftsman prepares the inscriptions and decorations to be put on the bells according to the old lost wax process.
On other sides, different bells, at each step of fabrication, wait to be sent all over the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Armenia.
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