La Tiretaine au quartier Saint-Victor : cinq siècles d’histoire

The Tiretaine, a stream rising at the foot of the Puy de Dôme, emerges from its ravine in the Saint-Victor de Chamalières neighbourhood. The force of its often-violent flow led residents to divert its course at the “Partidou Saint-Victor” into two separate branches.

Thanks to its purity and(…)

The Tiretaine, a stream rising at the foot of the Puy de Dôme, emerges from its ravine in the Saint-Victor de Chamalières neighbourhood. The force of its often-violent flow led residents to divert its course at the “Partidou Saint-Victor” into two separate branches.

Thanks to its purity and strong flow, bolstered by the Marie-Louise and Saint-Victor springs, the stream became ideal for establishing paper mills as early as 1450. After reaching their peak in the 18th century and experiencing a revival during the Restoration (1814–1830), the mills gradually declined with technological advancements. The last audible mill wheels, those of the Pierre-Serve mill, fell silent in 1889.

Downstream from the bridge on Rue Saint-Victor, the Aubégny iceworks were established in 1900, on land where the Saint-Victor spring surfaces. In 1922, the paper mill gave way to the Entrepôts Frigorifiques d’Auvergne, a refrigeration company that harnessed the river’s power to run generator sets and produce ice for cooling purposes. At its peak, it produced up to 4,000 metric tonnes of ice annually. Using rapid freezing techniques, it delivered 120 tonnes of food per day and required storage capacity of 28,000 cubic metres. However, such industrial activity increasingly disrupted life in a residential area. In 1955, the plant was relocated to Gerzat, and the site became an industrial wasteland.

In the 2020s, this brownfield site on Rue de la Papeterie was designated for residential redevelopment. One of the developers (OPHIS), in return for securing the site, agreed to transfer ownership of the riverbanks to the local authority, allowing the creation of a public footpath along the Tiretaine. This new development led to the rediscovery of a former forebay, now converted into a fishway for brown trout, and the stabilisation of a dam previously at risk of collapse.

Special thanks to Mr Jean-Michel Delaveau, official historian of the Tiretaine.