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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Trinquetaille glass factory, located in the eponymous district of Arles, is a black glass factory created in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. It exploited local resources such as the Rhone sand and the soda of Camargue, producing mainly bottles (Bordeaux, dames-jeannes) and carafes. His activity, intense but brief, was stopped by the Revolution and economic difficulties, including the cost of imported coal.

The history of the site begins with a first white glass factory in the 18th century, transferred to Trinquetaille but closed after six years due to lack of local wood. In 1782 a Norman glass master and two Arlésians (a merchant and a lawyer) revived production under Grigniard and Cie, after a controversial lease with the owner Datty. Despite legal conflicts, glassmaking flourished until 1791, when it passed into the hands of Arlesian bourgeois, including Joseph Yvaren.

The Revolution marked a turning point: two partners, Grigniard and Boulouvard, were guillotined for royalism. The glass factory, weakened by the continental blockade and surtaxes, closed definitively in 1799. In the 19th century, the great hall will even serve as a church after the destruction of St. Peter of Trinquetaille during the Second World War. Ranked a historic monument in 1987, it now houses an annex town hall.

Production was organized in continuous flow, with 40 workers housed on site, working day and night (except in summer, prohibited in Provence). The site exported its bottles massively to Genoa, Nice, Marseille or Toulouse, some probably going to the Americas. Coal, imported from Loire, and recycling of broken glass locally complemented supplies.

Architecturally, glassware consists of a large basilical hall (1783) with central ovens and ventilation corridors, built of Beaucaire stone. The buildings purchased by the city in 1979 revealed ancient remains during excavations. Since 2014, development projects aim to preserve this unique industrial heritage in Provence.

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