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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Forge catalane

Montgaillard, Ariège, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Forge (cad. B 173, 174) : inscription par arrêté du 29 novembre 1993
Protection dates
1993/11/29 : inscrit MH
Type
forge catalane
Main period of construction
limite 18e siècle 19e siècle, milieu 20e siècle
Ownership
propriété du département
Commune
Montgaillard
Département
Ariège
Region
Occitanie
Country
France
Coordinates
42.94110, 1.62885
Mérimée reference
PA00125553

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

3 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1776 map "39 St. Lizier, St. Martory." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

Créée pendant la Révolution à l'emplacement d'un moulin à fer mentionné dès le 15e siècle, la forge à la catalane de Montgaillard fut transformée vers 1860 en taillanderie, en conservant l'essentiel des bâtiments et du dispositif hydraulique et en bénéficiant de nouveaux équipements : martinets et fours de réchauffement. La métallurgie au bois, dite "indirecte" parce que le fer s'obtenait sans passer par l'étape de la fonte, était spécifique des Pyrénées ariégeoises. La soufflerie à trompe constituait l'originalité du procédé. La roue hydraulique verticale, l'arbre à cames et le marteau à platiner les outils servirent pour la taillanderie. Les bâtiments qui les abritent sont en moellons épais, représentatifs de l'architecture rurale environnante. L'ensemble a été racheté par le département de l'Ariège en 1987.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Created during the Revolution at the site of an iron mill mentioned from the 15th century onwards, the Catalan forge of Montgaillard was transformed around 1860 into a tool-making workshop, retaining the essential buildings and hydraulic system and benefiting from new equipment: trip hammers and reheating furnaces. Metallurgy using wood, called "indirect" because iron was obtained without passing through the smelting stage, was specific to the Ariège Pyrenees. The trompe bellows constituted the originality of the process. The vertical water wheel, the cam shaft and the tool planishing hammer were used for the tool-making workshop. The buildings housing them are in thick rubble stone, representative of the surrounding rural architecture. The whole was repurchased by the Ariège department in 1987.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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