Soierie St Georges (Silk weavers)

Canuts were weavers, artisans of incredible skill. They worked as a family on direct orders from silk merchants. The women, Canuses, prepared the warp and the children helped out. In the 19th century, the Canuts settled in the Croix-Rousse district. Tall buildings were constructed in the narrow streets to accommodate Jacquard looms, which measured 3.9 metres high. A Canut's apartment was both home and workplace. They earned a pittance and lived in very hard conditions. Every street of the Croix-Rousse resounded with the bistanclaque (onomatopoeia for the looms at work).