Glassmaking, a complete art
The territory of Grand Pic Saint-Loup is rich in a unique glassmaking heritage in France: from Antiquity to the contemporary era, the art of glass holds a major place there. A heritage to explore without limits.
A window on history & the arts.
From Ferrières-les-Verreries to Vacquières via Claret, discover the Path of the Glassmakers, a small winding and magnificent road that meanders over the Causse de l’Hortus and its surroundings.
The first known workshops in the region date back to the XIVᵉ century. This luxury craft produces goblets in the Venetian style, vials, and flasks intended for apothecaries and perfumers. Glass production reaches its peak in the XVIIᵉ century. Montpellier, with its Faculty of Medicine, orders glass in large quantities.
The workshops, which generally consist of five to ten workers, multiply with a strong concentration in the North of Pic Saint-Loup. The master glassmakers supervise the furnaces and only create delicate pieces.
All coming from families of gentleman glassmakers, they can only work after a ten-year training. They form a large body that looks after their interests and privileges and helps each other in times of difficulty.
A millennial history of glassmaking
Glass Hall - Pic Saint-Loup
Unique in France, the Glass Hall is a museum that traces the history of glass and its techniques from antiquity to the present day in the...
The Path of the Glassmakers
Legend has it that Saint Louis granted the ruined nobles from the crusades the right to practice the art and science of glassmaking.
Guillaume Domise
Guillaume Domise has been shaping glass with dexterity and an unwavering passion for 18 years. It is in his workshop in Vacquières and at the...
Take on all or part of the history of glassmaking and its secrets.
The Path of the Glassmakers is the name of the route that was once taken by the carriers who, on the backs of donkeys, transported the production of the glassworks towards the ports of the Mediterranean.
