The fountains and wash houses of Moliets and Maâ
In the town, two fairly large sources made it possible to supply the various houses and their wash houses.
At the end of the 19th century, filtering wells allowed residents to obtain water near their homes and the wash houses survived thanks to the flow of springs.
In the middle of the 20th century, in the 1950s/1960s, the arrival of motor pumps then the water supply, followed by the comfort of washing machines, made the usefulness of washing machines disappear. In these places, all the women doing their laundry:
These laundry days were the social link of the commune. Those of the village, at the washhouse of the Notre Dame fountain, and those of Maâ and northern districts of the commune to that of
“Maâ’s Pourrut”.
The wash houses are deserted, because they are no longer used, but they are the last vestiges of a simple and harsh life.
The Notre Dame Fountain or “Village Pourrut”
The source is a little sulfurous and ferruginous, but the population also came there to treat skin diseases.
Every August 15, for the Assumption, a procession from the church brought the Virgin to bless the spring. This polychrome wooden virgin is located in the church at the top of the altar in the side nave.
On the 16th, Saint Roch's day, the priest came to bless the donkeys and mules in this place.
These festivities disappeared with the war of 1940. Only the village's patronal festival remains.
At the time of the rogations (the 3 days preceding the Ascension), the crosses of all the calvaries of the village, including those of the pourruts, were decorated with flowers and were blessed by the village priest.
Europe
ngage
in Aquitaine
The rehabilitation of these fountains and wash houses was part of work undertaken by the Town Hall and subsidized as part of a LEADER program for Europe and the
Aquitaine Regional Council.