Maison des Canuts, Silk weaving museum in Croix-Rousse district, Lyon, France

The Maison des Canuts is a silk-weaving museum in the Croix-Rousse district of Lyon. Inside, a tall dark grey pillar bears the inscription "100 % MADE IN LYON" in white capitals, and black shelving units hold folded and hanging textiles. A long wooden counter with white drawers displays scarves, books and a glass object, while a wooden rack holds scarves in blue, green, red and brown. A dark panel mounted between two posts shows a white line drawing of a spool beside the words "MAISON DES CANUTS LYON".

Lyon silk weavers founded the cooperative Cooptiss in 1960, and in 1970 it created the Maison des Canuts as a place to promote Lyon silk. After Cooptiss and then the museum filed for bankruptcy in 1998 and 2003, a public-private partnership took over: the collection belongs to the city of Lyon, the walls to the SACVL, and a private company runs the site. Refurbished and enlarged, it reopened in October 2009.

The word "canut" designated the silk weaver, and the museum traces its origin, the organisation of these workers and their revolts. Guided tours also cover the silk industry in Lyon from 1536 onwards, the cycle of the silkworm, gold and silver thread making (guimperie) and the invention of the Jacquard hand loom.

The museum sits in the Croix-Rousse district of Lyon's 4th arrondissement. Bus lines 2, 33, 45 and C13 and metro line C stop at Croix-Rousse, close to the museum, and a bus stop named Maison des Canuts lies just beside it. Guided tours include a weaving demonstration on a working Jacquard hand loom.

The museum's name refers to the canuts, the silk weavers of Croix-Rousse; the exhibition rooms trace the origin of the word itself alongside the 1536 beginnings of Lyon's silk trade. Guided tours run a working Jacquard handloom, and the displays cover the weavers' guilds, their revolts, and the making of gold and silver thread (guimperie).