The metalworking museum of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher

When you arrive in the town of Saint Chély d’Apcher, you may notice quite a large building near a small brook… Locals call it “the steamer” because of its cruise-ship shape and the white vapor that emerges from its chimney on cold mornings… Well this building is the reason why Saint-Chély-d’Apcher is the welcoming and lively town it is today… Indeed, you are looking at the Metalworking Factory of the town, still in activity today ! The town owes its expansion at the turn of the 20th century to the establishment of the Sollac metallurgical factory. Nowadays, the company is known as Arcelor Mittal and still employs over 200 workers in it’s Saint-Chély-d’Apcher factory. Back when the factory and the global market for metalwork products were thriving, nearly 1500 workers used to work there ! But let’s talk about the Metalworking museum of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher…

Back in the 90s, on the initiative of a small group of retired workers from the factory, the association “From earth to steel” was born. Soon after that, the Metalworking museum of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher was created on the ground floor of the former hospital. The museum enables visitors to discover the industrial heritage of the town. Motivated by passion, they gathered old machines but also many testimonies of workers about their work. All thoses tokens of the past shine a new light on the history and the metallurgical production of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher.

Prepare you visit of the Metalworking museum of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher

The visit is organised around five main themes.

• Electrometallurgy and its origins
• Men and their tools
• Social events and context
• Product manufacturing
• The modern factory

From ancient machines and tools to testimonies of the daily life of the workers, everything is gathered in the Metalworking museum of Saint-Chély-d’Apcher to tell the story of how this factory changed everything..

The museum is open :

• Mid-june to mid-septembre – Thuesday through Saturday : 09:00AM to 12:30PM and 02:00PM to 06:00PM
• From mid-septembre to mid-novembre and mid-april to mid-june – Thursday : 09:00AM to 12:30PM and 02:00PM to 06:00PM
• From mid-novembre to mid-april : open for groups only (make sure to book in advance by contacting our Tourist Information Center in Saint-Chély-d’Apcher : +33(0) 4 66 31 03 67)

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