Gemmage
bell tower porch of the Musée prieuré de MimizanMimizan's heritage
From its UNESCO-listed bell tower to the fountains hidden in its alleyways, Mimizan invites you on a fascinating journey through time. Small or large, each monument tells a chapter of our history: daily life of yesteryear through our washhouses, spirituality in our churches, the aeronautical adventure with our Monument des Ailes… Let us guide you on a journey where every stone and every building has a story to tell.
A story of resin and men, when the pines told us their story...Gemmage in Mimizan
GemmageA gemmaker at work in the Mimizan forest, 1950s
Did you know that the pines of the Landes region were once veritable mines of liquid gold? Gemmage, the ancestral technique of resin harvesting, provided a livelihood for generations of Mimizaners and shaped our landscape.
A good gemmeur could take care of 2,000 to 3,000 pine trees per season! A real feat when you consider that each tree had to be visited every 5 to 8 days.
In the Mimizan forest, “pots” hung from the pines, patiently harvesting the resin. Gemmakers, true craftsmen of the forest, practiced their art with specialized tools: the“hapchot” for notching, the“palette” for guiding the resin, and the“pousse-crampons” for fixing the pots.
This resin, once transformed, was used for many purposes: turpentine, rosin and even printing inks. A veritable local economy developed around this activity, making our region proud. Today, although the “pines gemmées” (pines used for gemmaking) are no longer exploited, their memory remains vivid in our collective memory. The traces of these cuts on the old pines are like scars that tell the story of our forest and the men who worked in it.
This activity, which ceased in the 1970s, remains a powerful symbol of our industrial and cultural heritage. It reminds us of the ingenuity of our ancestors and their ability to live in harmony with the Landes forest.
Gemmaker’s vocabulary
“Carre” (the notch), “Barras” (the solidified resin), “Gemmeur” (the resin maker)… A vocabulary that testifies to the richness of this local heritage.
