Things to see and do Loire

" A company, a family, a club "summarizes the history of the stadium, its construction related to Geoffroy Guichard's personalities, founder of the Casino Company in 1898, Pierre Guichard, his son. The Geoffroy Guichard Stadium project is that of an ambitious company that firmly believes that professional football can be a communication tool for a brand or city. The future will prove to him right. So for those who want to know even more and visit the galleries, the dressings and walk on the lawn of this mythical stadium, guided tours organized by the Green Museum propose to discover this magical place in all its corners.

The House of Grenadière is located in the heart of the village and opposite the church, perched on a granite spur, at 860 m above sea level, 1 km from the A 89/A 72 exit. The museum has three levels. The first allows to see the work of the embroiderers through a film retraçant their history, film composed of testimonies of embroiderers referring to their feelings in relation to the trade as well as of bosses who explain the economic organisation of the trade. The second level is devoted to the work of the embroiderers as well as all the ancient and contemporary creations of the embroidery into the gold wire. And the third floor offers a personal initiation. The technique is revealed during the meeting with the embroiderer for a demonstration and a detailed explanation. To complete the discovery of gold embroidery, small and large make their personal initiation and produce a small embroidery. Don't leave without a tour at the shop.

A breathtaking medieval monument of civil architecture! Built around 1295, on the orders of John I, Earl of Forez, probably on the occasion of his marriage to Alix de Viennois, the heraldic hall of La Diana was intended to host celebrations and assemblies. Its ogival wooden vault decorated with 1728 coats of arms, certainly by families invited to the wedding, is exceptional. A fantastic animal décor at the base of the vaults completes this extraordinary ceiling. A monumental fireplace contributes to the sumptuous decor. The overall design and profusion of colours of this Gothic ceiling impresses and one thinks of the splendour of past ceremonies.

The Atelier-Musée du Chapeau houses a permanent exhibition, a temporary exhibition space (one exhibition per year), a production workshop, a hat fashion training centre, a resource and documentation centre, reserves, an event space, five designer workshops, a shop and a restaurant. The new museography presents all the stages of the production chain of the luxury felt hat from rabbit hair. Machines in operation, hat making, video testimonies of the workers of the time, reconstituted workshop. The museum's collections cover chronologically and thematically the female and male headgear from the 18th century to the present day. Ecclesiastical hats with the hairstyles of great chefs (Bocuse, Troisgros...), not to mention the authentic headgear worn by famous women and men such as Grace Kelly or François Mitterrand, rub shoulders with the rooms of the houses Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Dior, Saint Laurent Paris, Hermès, Jean-Paul Gaultier, as well as a unique series of hats from the 1970s to the present day from Pierre Cardin, Jacques Pinturier, Marie Mercié, Stephen Jones... A unique place!

The mine was dug in 1907 and began operations in 1919. It was the largest mining operation in the basin. The site, closed in 1973, was classified as a historical monument in 2011. Rediscover the route taken by these workers who started by going to the checkroom: the hanging room, then into the underground galleries by taking the elevator. This visit offers a glimpse of the danger and fear that these miners could feel because of the numerous blasts of firedamp.

This flamboyant Gothic church houses a beautiful th century chair, th-century stained glass windows and Hanssen windows. You can discover the church on a free tour or enjoy a guided tour in the framework of the Old Centre tour planned by the Tourist Office of Roanne.

Urfé Castle, known as Urfé's Horns, was born of the rivalry of two great feudal women who fought the roannais territory in the th century. To get to the Count of Forez, and to resist him, the sire of Beaujeu installs a post of surveillance above Champoly, facing the fortifications of the Count in Saint-Just-en-Bridge, Cervière, Crozet and Roanne. A modest beginning, around 1130 a large isolated tower at the top of a rock is erected. The burden of maintaining this strategic position was entrusted to the Raybe family, who cleverly knew how to take advantage of it, taking a long balance between the two overlords, until the day when, in 1234, she made a final bid to Count de Forez. Two centuries later was built the castle we know. Guichard of Urfé, seneschal from Quercy, chamberlain of the Duke of Orleans, was probably the director, before being murdered. The family was continued with the descendants of Arnoul, brother of the deceased. The fortress was built in Renaissance style by Anne d'Urfé, the brother of L'Astrée. Anne lived as a provincial chief of the League until 1618. Last consolidated in 1704, the heavy building resisted the storms until the Revolution. She then belonged to Durand-Antoine de Meaux, guillotiné in Feurs in 1793. His heirs will regain their property and their current descendants still possess them, but the fortress will never be restored.

The Canal Canal in Digoin, a long 55 km long (37 m distance - 10 locks), was built from 1832 to 1838 with the aim of complementing the little navigable course of the Loire. Thus it allowed to develop relations with the North and East of France - expedition of tile, wire and fabrics of Roanne and Charlieu, mineral waters of Saint-Galmier, Vichy or Sail-sous-Couzan…, imported coal from the North, Rouen cotton, ores, Sablons de Nemours for glass plants… - while contributing to the glass. economic growth in the region with the establishment of many plants along its banks (brick, mills, arsenal…). Expanded to the Freycinet template in 1905, it saw at its peak (1938) 3 217 boats carrying 459 304 tonnes of cargo. Before the motorisation, the boats were hâlés by men and horses (or mule) at 12 km a day. However, the appearance of rail and the development of the road network had gradually been due to him and the canal was completely abandoned for freight transport in the s. On the other hand, it has been very successful because it is now very much appreciated for recreational boating. It is connected to the Centre Canal and the side canal to the Loire.