Museum of Tanning and Leather

The museum in the Tannerie Bortoises at Bort-les-Orgues, a small town in the département of Corrèze in central France provides its visits with a complete picture of transformation of skins and hides into leather than can be used by craftsmen. The museum opened in 1996 largely at the initiative of former workers at the tannery. It occupies a three-storey building which extends across 13 bays of a pedimented front. Visitors see first a film of work at the tannery, explaining how technology progressed over time, before progressing into the workshops. They can inspect more than 20 machines used for taking surplus flesh from skins and hides, for pounding them to make them soft, and for drying, smoothing, splitting and polishing leather. They have the opportunity to make leather objects for themselves.