A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by

launderette A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Uni ...

s. The English word is borrowed from the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

, which also uses the expression ''bassin public'', "public basin".

Description

Lavoirs were built from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. With

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

's redesign of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in the 1850s, a free lavoir was established in every neighbourhood, and government grants encouraged municipalities across France to construct their own. Lavoirs are more common in certain areas, such as around the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...

. Lavoirs are commonly sited on a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

or set over or beside a river. Many lavoirs are provided with roofs for shelter. With the coming of piped water supplies and modern

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

, lavoirs have been steadily falling into disuse although a number of communities have restored ancient lavoirs, some of which date back to the 10th century. There are also ''bateaux-lavoirs'' ("laundry boats") in some towns on the banks of large rivers such as Paris and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Gallery

Image:Groix-lavoir.jpg, A lavoir at

Groix Groix (; br, Enez Groe) is an island and a commune in the Morbihan department of the region of Brittany in north-western France. Groix lies a few kilometres off the coast of Lorient. Several ferries a day run from Lorient to Groix. There are a ...

Image:Bourgogne_Noyers-sur-Serein_lavoir.jpg, Lavoir at Noyers-sur-Serein Image:Lavoir-gunstett.jpg, Lavoir at

Gunstett Gunstett is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography The village is positioned slightly to the east of the Departmental Road RD27, a short distance north of Haguenau. The surrounding countryside is ...

Image:Imm015BateauxLavoirsLavalFrance050105smallGFDLMelusin.jpg, Laundry boat at

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

Image:MHNT PHa 912 T144.jpg, Laundry boat in

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

, 1901 Image:Vellisca (Cuenca) lavadero público (RPS 27-09-2014).png, Lavadero público in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

about 1874 at Vellisca in the

Province of Cuenca Cuenca is one of the five provinces of the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It is located in the eastern part of this autonomous community and covers 17,141 square km. It has a population of 203,841 inhabitants -- the least populated of ...

Image:Tanque das Lavandeiras - comunitario II.jpg, Public wash-pool at

Cabeção Cabeção is a Portuguese village, located in Mora Municipality in the Alto Alentejo Subregion. The population in 2011 was 1,073, in an area of 47.43 km². For a time it was the seat of local government in the immediate area between 1395 e ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Image:Lavoir San Miguel de Allende.jpg, Public washbasins at

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...

(

México Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

) Image:Fourneau St-Michel - Lavoir (Saint-Remy).jpg, Fourneau Saint-Michel - Lavoir (Saint-Remy)

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links