Salon de Provence - The 2 soap factories

The 2 Soap factories in Salon

Discover the 2 soap factories still in business, "MARIUS FABRE" & "RAMPAL LATOUR"

Savons In the 19th century, the growing of olive trees and trading of oil was one of Salon's major resources.

With the wealth of this raw material, the town began to follow the lead of Marseille, manufacturing soap according to the rules laid down in the Colbert decree since 1688.

The town did well from this. The large oil resources, combined with the progressive mechanisation of production and the arrival of the railway line in 1871, helped Salon become one of the main regional centres trading in oil and soap.

Oil merchants and soap makers took over empty plots of land for their businesses around the centre of Salon, near the railway station.

From the 1870s, factories were built, but also a large number of villas, their impressive appearance demonstrating the wealth of this industrial bourgeoisie.

Many of them were situated in the vicinity of and on Boulevard de la République and Boulevard de Nostradamus. Alone, they form an inventory of the architectural fashions of the last decades of the 19th century up to the 1920s.

Spearheading the town's economy, these merchants also played an active role in its social and cultural life.

For example, the construction of the Armand Theatre, inaugurated in 1884, was planned and funded by a rich merchant called Armand, who also left his fortune to it. During the same period, many “societies” were created, including the Arts Society, which began in 1886.

Savons Although the First World War and then the 1929 depression brought these euphoric decades to a brutal stop, Salon has preserved a delightful architectural heritage, as well as traditional know-how from this period.

[ Back ]

MARIUS FABRE SOAP FACTORY & Savon de Marseille Museum

In 1900 Marius Fabre created his soap factory in Salon-de-Provence.

The museum traces the fascinating history of soap in Provence, starting in the Middle Ages, of which the Marius Fabre soap factory has kept the most valuable examples: engraved boxwood stamps, tools, first soap moulds, stencils for shipment cases, old packaging, headed paper, wash boards, etc.

Reflecting a very old tradition that is still alive today, this museum is the fruit of a family adventure which has lasted more than 100 years.

Marius Fabre soap factory, shop and Savon de Marseille Museum
148, avenue Paul-Bourret. BP 12. Salon-de-Provence
Tel: 04.90.53.82.75 / Fax: 04.90.53.41.54.
info@marius-fabre.fr / www.marius-fabre.fr

Free parking for customers only
Open Monday to Friday from 09.30 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 17.00 (16.00 on Friday)

Savon de Marseille (Marseille soap) Museum
Monday to Thursday: 08.30 to 12.00 and 13.30 to 17.00, Friday: 08.30 to 16.00

The factory is open to visitors on Monday and Thursday
(tours begin at 10.30 precisely). Download the flyer Here
Daily in summer = Contact the factory directly

Shop
Monday to Thursday: 08.30 to 12.30 and 13.30 to 17.30, Friday: 08.30 to 16.30

Prices for Museum only:
€2.50 full price
€1.50 reduced price for students and senior citizens
Free for children under 15 and Salon residents

Prices for the Soap Museum + Guided tour of the factory:
€3.50 full price
€1.50 reduced price for students and senior citizens
Free for children under 15 and Salon residents

Group rates:
Guided tour of factory at a fixed rate of €3.85 per person
School group rates
€50 per class
No tours of the soap factory for school groups

Please note:
Open Monday to Friday except bank holidays, closed between Christmas and New Year, no tour of the soap factory in the second fortnight of August, or during the Christmas holidays.

[ Back ]

SAVONNERIE RAMPAL LATOUR (soap factory)

The RAMPAL Soap Factory was established in 1907 in Salon-de-Provence.

Come and visit the hundred-year-old factory, where we still make natural soaps that are soft on the skin and gentle on the environment.

Succumb to the charm, the fragrances and the character of this unique workplace suspended in time.

Rampal Latour Soap Factory & Shop
71, rue Félix Pyat à Salon-de-Provence
Tel: 04.90.56.07.28.
info@rampal-latour.com / www.rampal-latour.com

Free car park at the top of Rue Félix Pyat

Open Monday to Friday from 08.00 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 18.00.
Closed from 6 to 17 August