Rue Eau de Robec

The Robec River once changed colors daily - yellow, violet, blue, or red - depending on which dyes the textile workers were using that day. The constant pollution from madder (red dye) and woad (blue dye) was so notorious that writer Gustave Flaubert immortalized it in his 1856 novel Madame Bovary, describing the street as 'a wretched little Venice' with its ever-changing colored waters.

The visible stream flowing through the street today is entirely artificial - a closed-circuit water system recreated in the 1970s to preserve the historic charm. The real Robec River was actually buried underground between 1938-1941 due to severe pollution from centuries of textile industry waste, and still flows beneath the street to this day.

The Maison des Quatre Fils Aymon, built around 1475, has had a remarkable transformation from noble residence to disreputable tavern to national museum. In the 19th century, it earned the ironic nickname 'Marriage Hall' as a low-price lodging house. The abandoned building was saved from demolition in 1960, completely restored, and now houses the National Museum of Education (MUNAE).

At its industrial peak, approximately 40 textile factories operated along the 10-kilometer course of the Robec River, with 16 water mills grinding dye plants and wheat. The pollution was so severe that it completely destroyed the river's biodiversity - the waterway that once teemed with crayfish, carp, trout, and tench became lifeless by the late 1800s.