The covered wash house near the lower pharmacy is one of Lormes' quietly charming relics. Like dozens of lavoirs across Burgundy, this one provided the town's women with a shared space to wash clothes in running water, sheltered from the weather, for the better part of two centuries. The Vauban name is honorific — the great military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban was born in the Morvan and is a regional touchstone — rather than an indication of his direct involvement.
The stone basin and roof structure survive in good condition. Lavoirs like this were the social hubs of their villages before indoor plumbing arrived, and this one sits in a quiet quarter of Lormes that still feels unhurried. Look for it on the path between the church and the gorge.