Familistere de Guise

Jean-Baptiste Godin made a fortune from cast-iron stoves and, having read Fourier, spent it on housing his workers properly: from 1859 he built the Familistere, three large residential blocks around glass-roofed central courtyards, holding around eighteen hundred people, with running water, ventilation, waste chutes, schools, a theatre, shops, a laundry and a swimming pool with an adjustable floor for teaching children. He called it the social palace and argued that equivalents of wealth mattered more than wealth itself. In 1880 he converted the business into a cooperative owned by the workers, which ran until 1968. It is now a museum with parts still lived in.

What to look for

• The glazed courtyards - covered central halls the flats open onto.
• The theatre and schools - the collective facilities Godin built in.
• The swimming pool - with a floor that could be raised for children.
• The apartments - restored flats showing how families lived.

When to go

April to October; the museum closes on some weekdays in low season. Part of the complex remains residential, so visiting is confined to the museum route.

What to expect

Parts are still lived in and not accessible. Guise is remote from the main routes and needs a car. The site is unusual rather than beautiful, and its interest is largely social history.

Nearby

Saint-Quentin lies southwest; Laon is southwest beyond it.

Key facts