La Maison des Canuts

Ok, interesting facts. The issue was that everything is in French and they hand you some pages in English with the descriptions, which, in my opinion, is not great.

A tiny museum about the history of textiles and weaving. Well, they have quite long history of it if you are into this kind of stuff. It is interesting though. There are displays of old weaving machines and some fabric. There is a small fee of 3€ to enter.

Very interesting history lesson about the silk industry in France.

Interesting but very small, and feel more an association’s exhibition than a legit museum if I can completely honest. The little store in the newt room is nice. If you decide to go, don’t forget to book the tour, it will probably be more insightful.

It was interesting but as an English speaker -even though the tour was advertised as in English, only about half of it was English. Second half was all French. It was interesting to see the looms though and the demonstration of how jacquard is woven was pretty amazing. And the shop next door had some beautiful silk scarves and other silk items.

Epic place and wonderful tour in French or English. We spent 2 hour here. The staff were very welcoming and patient with the language barrier and let us try our French as much as possible.

For a delve into the history of the silk industry of Lyon it is well worth a visit to La Maison des Canuts. Aside from the gorgeous scarves and shawls they have (100% made in Lyon) there is a lovely collection of old pieces, from looms and spindles to the tiny tools of the trade from the early ateliers. The staff are lovely, very helpful and knowledgable about their products, and the history of silk in their beloved Lyon.

Very interesting display of looms, weaving apparatus, and products. Inexpensive admission (€3).

Great museum to learn about the silk industry that used to dominate Lyon. Very informative exhibit that offers english translations. They even demonstrate the giant looms that were used and still are used to produce the most expensive tapestries.

Disclaimer: I visited the Maison des Canuts in 2003, and there's a lot that could have changed in 8 years. You can't appreciate the history of Lyon without a visit to the Croix Rousse, the historical heart of the silk industry of the city. The Maison des Canuts may be small, but it's chock full of historical artifacts from the height of the silk working period - Jacquard looms, a ribbon weaving machine, plaques from textile worker unions, demonstrations of how the silk is refined, etc. They've packed a lot into a small space, so I would try to go with as small a group as possible. They have guided tours, though ours was in French, so I'm not sure how much of it could be done in English. If you've got someone who understands French in the group, it's a great little museum.