Saline Royale in Arc-et-Senant

Visit to the Saline Royale in Arc-et-Senans just outside Besançon. An impressive salt production facility from the 18th century. Not only are the buildings arranged symmetrically in a semicircle impressive, we also liked the gardens arranged at the back just as much. And all of this in a light, wide landscape. As a change, there is also the exhibition “Le Monde de Folon” about the Belgian artist and illustrator Jean-Michel Folon. Definitely worth seeing.

The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans in the French department of Doubs is one designed by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736–1806) on behalf of Louis XV. Manufactory for salt production planned and completed in 1779. The foundation stone was laid on April 15, 1775; the work took three years. It is one of the most important built projects of so-called revolutionary architecture. In later ideas, Ledoux expanded the saltworks into an ideal city called Chaux, but this ideal city project was never realized. In 1982 the complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. (Source: Wikipedia)

There is an attractive website with a lot of information on the same topic: www.salineroyale.com