Monthly Archives: June 2017



LE CHÂTEAU DU SAVON 2017 – walking tour, Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, La Confection Idéale, Tourcoing and Roubaix, Lille, France

Victor Vaissier was an entrepreneur who amassed a fortune from a successful business producing perfumed soap under the label “Savon du Congo.” He was famous in the early 1900s for his extravagant lifestyle and eccentric castle, and the legendary stories are still recounted today. Although the castle no longer exists, the “Château du Savon” still lives on in people’s memories.

For the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine (European Heritage Days), visitors were invited to take part in a walking tour which traces the remainings and memories of this castle as told by André Wallecan, who is an inhabitant of Roubaix.

Booklet Design: Sophie Rogg
Photography: Ayako Nishibori

Generously supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Paris