Les Anciennes Maisons des Tanneurs

Former houses of the tanners who used the water of the canal (at the foot of the houses) for the work of the skins, and made dry these last ones in the big balconies - at the time opened - in the last floor.

The Presle district is a valley crossed by the Savasse torrent and criss-crossed by several streams.
Originally, the area was home to wetland plants, and horsetail, the herbaceous perennial that flourished here, gave its name to this part of the town of Romans.
From the Middle Ages onwards, the abundance of watercourses gave this area great prosperity, enabling the development of industries that required motive power: tanneries, tanneries, dye works, mills, fulling mills, metal-turning factories, etc. The Savasse river flowed into the town of Romans, where it was used as a source of drinking water. The Savasse River entered the town through an opening in the ramparts known as the Brèche.
This reputedly salubrious district was also home to the Charité hospital, later known as Hôtel Dieu. Indeed, history records that no epidemic ever raged there.
The only traces of the past still visible are a few tanners' houses with their famous balconies on which hides were spread.
(information Romans Historique)