Audio GuideManufacture des Gobelins

Manufacture des Gobelins began as a medieval dyeing business founded by the Gobelin family. Over time, it grew into a royal tapestry factory that proudly supplied the French court during the era of Louis the Fourteenth. This transformation was shaped by influential figures such as Charles Le Brun, a court painter who designed many royal works, and Jean-Baptiste Colbert, whose reforms helped evolve the manufactory. In the early seventeenth century, Flemish craftsmen brought fresh techniques that enriched the art of tapestry.

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Located at forty-two Avenue des Gobelins in the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris, the site features several buildings dating from the seventeenth century along with an addition from nineteen twelve. These structures preserve the original workshops and offer an authentic look into the past. Today the manufactory is maintained by a state institution under the French Ministry of Culture. It continues producing masterpieces for governmental institutions while welcoming visitors.

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Guided tours are offered by appointment on weekday afternoons, and the museum’s Galerie des Gobelins hosts temporary exhibitions that highlight centuries of tapestry art. The techniques used here remain among the world’s finest, standing proudly alongside renowned textiles from Japan and Persia. There is also an intriguing chapter in its history: a short-lived branch in London during the early eighteenth century.

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