Travel Guide Firminy

The capital of Ondaine has a mining and steel history. With a population of about 20,000 inhabitants, this working-class city experienced the closure of coal mines and many factories. Today, industrial activity continues thanks to local know-how. Like the Saint-Etienne area, the city is a land of SMEs. Three essential monuments and an astonishing gastronomic address promote tourism. The first industry was the manufacture of nails. In the 19th century, nailers wore a leather apron called the basane or "pelou"; those who wore it were the appelous, the origin of the inhabitants' nickname. Coal from coal mines gave birth to the forge and with the industrial revolution, the city became a metallurgist stronghold. Even today, the landscape still retains the traces of this glorious past. The Chazeau district, once an independent city, remains the city's green lung: in the past, workers came to relax. Rich in workers' traditions, Firminy is proud of its dense and varied associative life. In the fall, the "Vogue des Noix" continues the tradition of the annual fair and the Corso attracts tens of thousands of spectators.