the essential
The Moulin de la Jalousie in Belpech, in the Aude, was selected by the Mission Patrimoine for the safeguarding of heritage in danger led by Stéphane Bern, this Monday, September 2. It is one of the five sites selected in the Occitanie-Méditerranée region (100 projects in total in metropolitan France and overseas communities) to benefit from the financial support of the seventh edition of the Mission Patrimoine game offer launched that same day.
After the abbey of Lagrasse, the monastery of Prouilhe in Fanjeaux and the dovecote of Bordeneuve in Bram, it is the water mill of Jalousie in Belpech which has won the favor of the jury of the Mission for the preservation of heritage in danger led by Stéphane Bern. Selected among more than 790 new projects this Monday, September 2, this artisanal heritage of the 18th century will benefit from a restoration aid system designed in partnership with La Française des Jeux via the scratch games “Mission Patrimoine” and the drawings of the Loto du Patrimoine. The amount of the grant awarded will be revealed at the end of the year, it will depend on the participation of the public.
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Where does this strange name come from?
Located on the Vixiège, downstream from the village, 60 km south-east of Toulouse, this mill in peril owes its unusual name to the story of its founder: in 1795, Raymond Fenasse, former miller of the seigneurial mill on I’Hers in Belpech, launched the construction of his own mill in application of the law of August 4, 1789 abolishing feudal privileges and rights. But the inhabitants of the place, pushed by the swearing priest Fontès, were so jealous of him that he insisted on putting this feeling of opposition in the building’s baptismal plaque… Its function originally consisted of grinding grain to make flour, but it was later extended to house a sawmill and a forge, as well as steel-working machines.
Museum site, art gallery, rehabilitation workshop
The Aude Tourist Development Agency supports this project to rehabilitate the mill, which aims to promote the know-how of the Aude in the Lauragais region. Once restored, it will house the headquarters of the Moulin des bois ovales association, whose mission is to safeguard this historical heritage and bring it back to life by offering tours of the site, a museum coupled with an art gallery. It will also host socio-educational and cultural events, a third place, and a reintegration workshop around woodworking on the mechanisms of the sawmill, still operational, which operate using hydraulic energy, an eco-responsible activity that will be highlighted.
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A significant risk of collapse
Work will begin in spring 2025. Three roofs of the buildings are in a very advanced state of disrepair, with a significant risk of collapse, as are the supporting walls of the sawmill section, on the river side, which are threatening to fall. The main beams are rotten, the 1910 turbine used to saw the trees is completely rusty, the spinning wheel for grinding corn flour no longer works and the floor of the grain mill room is sagging, as are some load-bearing beams. In short, the construction site is huge.
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