What does the French city of Thiers have in common with Mikov?

24. července 2019

The eyes of every sports fan are now fixed on the climax of the Tour de France, and that's why we want to devote our blog to France today. Just as Mikulášovice in the heart of Bohemian Switzerland is connected with cutleries, in France it's the town called Thiers.

The city has about 40,000 inhabitants and can be found in the mountainous countryside of central France in the department of Puy-de-Dôme, away from the leading French tourist resorts. It does not have its Versailles, ski slopes or beaches of the Cote d'Azur, but instead faces numerous social problems. The wild river Durolle, which flows through the city, in the past brought energy to multiple cutlery factories on its shore.

Today, these old operations are already abandoned, some are disintegrating, others serve as museums supported by European Union grants. Butcher's factories moved to modern halls on the outskirts of the city.

Interestingly, the knives there (doesn't matter who made them) have the same design that everyone was able to agree on. And just like the Tour de France is a holiday for cycling fans, in early May, knife lovers from all over the world come to Thiers for a large and famous knife exhibition.

So how does Thiers relate to Mikov? In 2016 Mikulášovice was one of the founding members of the free association of cutlery cities from all over Europe. And so in the local museum, you will find the most famous knives of Mikov - headed by the famous Rybička.