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The heritage and history of Althen-des-Paluds are closely linked to the cultivation of madder, a dye plant imported by Hovhannès Althounian who brought prosperity to the town. At the time, three factories of Garance were active in the village: the mills of La Roque, Gaffins and Saint Albergaty, later transformed into a paper mill, and all three are now converted into residential or tourist housing.
The history of the Moulin des Gaffins
Dating back to the 16th century, the Moulin des Gaffins is a former madder powder factory, registered in the register of historical monuments in 2016 to preserve it because of its antiquity, its industrial past, and its coherent state which makes it possible to trace all the stages of production, with the oven building, the masonry bay, the millstone building and the hall.
The first mention of the Domaine des Gaffins appeared in 1548 when the town of Monteux sold paluds, marshy land, to Nicolas de Cocîllis dit Agaffin with permission to divert the waters of the Sorgue and “to conduct them into the land acquired”. Thus dug, the canal, which took the name of Agaffin, now made it possible to use hydraulic energy, the basis for future activities. Several owners of the “Agaffin barn” then succeeded one another, including Françoise de Cambis, Marquise de Brantes in 1744. In 1758, a lease between the seigneur of Tourettes, the new owner, and André Arnaud, a launderer, gave some additional information on the Gaffins barn, including “kitchen, rooms, oven for washing cloths, oven for washing cloths, mill press, mill press, mill, press mill, stable, hayloft and enclosure to extend the canvas to be laundered”.
It is in this act that two activities in the field are mentioned for the first time: bleaching fabrics and oil mills.
After several successive acquisitions, it was the Fortunet family who undertook new constructions in the 19th century, the raising of the Moulin à Garance in 1882 and the extension of the estate. The Mely and Cartoux families took over the estate from 1895, and made new developments, but at that time, the madder powder industry was in sharp decline and no information appeared in the acts on the activity carried out by the new owners.
In 1920, the factory, rented to Léon Reboul, changed activity and is now used for crushing ochre.
After new changes of ownership in the 20th century, this emblematic industrial site, witness to a unique history, was converted into an exceptional place for receptions and weddings.
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