Tourist information:
The city of Saint-Etienne's importance is due to its past as an industrial city but is now looking to the future with the great vision of becoming the XXI century's design capital. Saint-Etienne is now a warm and cheerful city, where modern and green spaces flourish over the months.
Heavily polluted due to its many industrial years, Saint-Etienne has closed its last sulfur mine in 1975 and since this year has begun its great change. It grew up around major cultural projects, including the creation of the Museum of Modern Art, which is one of the most interesting in France, the Museum of Art and Industry that values the expertise of the past or around the creation of the Design Biennial.
Saint-Etienne is a city worth exploring. It hides many treasures of French heritage, such as neo-classical buildings Dalgabio, the Lamaisière buildings or Grand'Eglise dating from the fifteenth century... Visitors can also surprise the many statues that line the city.
Since the fifteenth century, the city of Saint-Etienne has developed through its many metallurgical and weapons factories. It also enriched around the art of braiding, which made Saint-Etienne a city creative of threads and ribbons. In the early twentieth century, the Manufrance company, pioneer in mail order, was created and made the reputation of the city.
The city also has over 700 ha of gardens, nice places which make the city greener and erases its bad image of a polluted city. Montaud Park, the park of Europe, the Botanical Gardens and Park Perrotière are many areas where you can stroll when the weather permits it.
