Maison des Canuts

Why it matters

Maison des Canuts is a compact interpretation centre for Lyon silk rather than a preserved factory. In Croix-Rousse—the historic silk-workers’ district—it traces five centuries of production from silk thread to finished cloth, and links technical innovation to the working lives and revolts of the canuts, Lyon’s silk weavers.

The museum occupies a former workshop setting on rue d’Ivry. Its displays make the local production system, known as the Fabrique, legible through silk yarn, old textiles, trimmings, bobbins, shuttles, documents and film. Look for the sections on gold and silver thread, the silkworm life cycle, the Jacquard mechanism and the canut uprisings of 1831 and 1834.

See the loom working

The guided workshop visit is the reason to come. Staff demonstrate weaving on a nineteenth-century hand-operated Jacquard loom, showing how the mechanism controls a complex pattern. Maison des Canuts is the only place in Lyon where hand-operated Jacquard looms are presented in operation.

A self-guided visit covers the exhibition rooms, but it does not replace the demonstration. Choose the guided visit if you want to understand the relationship between the loom, its threads and the finished silk.

Practical visit

Address: 10–12 rue d’Ivry, 69004 Lyon.

Independent entry: the permanent exhibition costs €3 for adults. Guided workshop visit: €10 for adults, including exhibition access. Under-11s enter free; student rates are available.

Guided visits normally run Tuesday to Saturday at 11:00 and 15:30, with an additional 14:00 departure on Saturdays. Tours are offered in French and English-language assistance is available. Collect booked tickets at least 15 minutes before the start; groups of ten or more require a reservation.

Getting there and access

Take Metro C to Croix-Rousse, then walk to rue d’Ivry. Bus S4 stops at Maison des Canuts; several other buses stop at Croix-Rousse.

The museum is open Tuesday to Friday, 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–18:00, and Saturday, 10:00–18:00. It is closed Sunday, Monday and public holidays. The venue is accessible to wheelchair users with assistance and has an adapted toilet.

Extend the visit

Some scheduled visits continue through the traboules of Croix-Rousse, the passages, lanes and stairways that frame the silk district’s urban history. These combined walks finish at Place des Terreaux and involve numerous steps, so they are not suitable for visitors with reduced mobility.