Built in the 15th century, the mill that dominates the appellation and gives it its name ceased grinding grain in the mid-19th century.
But it still stands proudly on the hillside, at an altitude of 258 meters, on its dome of manganese-injected granite.
Restored in 1960, even though it had been listed as a historic monument some thirty years earlier, it has regained its ability to turn, thanks to the “guivre”, an oblique wooden beam that allows it to put its wings into the wind.
In 1999, on the occasion of the mill’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the wings were returned to the mill.
The mill, orphaned of its wings since the terrible storm of 1910 which tore them off, was thus restored to its original glory and purpose.
It is now in a perfect state of preservation.
History again, but from wind to stone.
In the 19th century, Romanèche-Thorins was home to four manganese mines, among the largest in France, from which was extracted the famous “glassmaker’s soap” used to whiten glass.
A very hard stone, of such quality that it was christened “romanéchite”.
These mines, where the local population worked (the vine-growing, mixed-crop farmers were also miners), closed in 1919.
But the manganese remained, giving the wines their distinctive character.