Arc-et-Senans () is a commune in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region of eastern France. The Royal Saltworks, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 1982, is located here.

Geography

Arc-et-Senans is a large commune located some 32 km south-west of

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

and 30 km east by south-east of Dole. It lies between the

Loue The Loue () is a river of eastern France, a left tributary of the Doubs, which it joins downstream of Dole. It is long. Its source is a karst spring in the Jura mountains near Ouhans, which at least partly receives its water from the Doubs. Th ...

river in the south and the Chaux forest in the north at 250 metres altitude. The northern western, and southern borders of the commune are the departmental border between

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Jura. Only the short north-eastern border connects the commune to Doubs. Access to the commune is by the D17 from Liesle in the north-east which passes through the town and continues west, changing to the D7 at the border, to Chissey-sur-Loue. The D31 comes from Rans in the north, changing to the D17E at the border, and continues south, changing again to the D32, to Cramans. The commune has several hamlets: Arc to the west of the main town and Senans to the north-east almost link into one town. Then there are also the hamlets of Le Defois and Le Vernois. There is an

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

railway station at Arc-et-Senans town which is a junction for two lines and is served by the

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

Franche-Comté. There are forests to the north but most of the commune is farmland.Google Maps
/ref> The

river forms the southern and eastern border of the commune as it continues south to join the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Molay. The ''Ruisseau de la Reverotte'' flows from the north-east of the commune down the western side and forms part of the western border before continuing west to join the Loue east of Belmont.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

Arc-et-Senans was known as ''Petregium'' (Roche-sur-Loue) cited in the ''Chronicle'' by Saint-Benignus. It was ''Arcum'' in 1049, ''Sonans'' in 1275, ''Cenans et Arc en Valoye'' in 1490, and ''Arc en Vallois'' in 1681.

History

Traces of occupation dating back to the Roman era have been found, especially at a place called ''Le Cretot''. Bones with broken tiles and bricks were visible in the soil during excavation. Father Letondal in his book ''Arc-et-Senans through the ages'' published in 1927 tells a quite complete communal history.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,624 inhabitants.

Economy

The economic life of Arc-et-Senans is largely oriented towards tourism. The Royal Saltworks attracts 150,000 visitors per year (2000). In addition some small industry has developed, mainly in wood and to a lesser extent plastics. Finally there is still about a dozen farms which traditionally are oriented towards dairy cattle and grain farming.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: * The Chateau d'Arc (18th century) The Chateau d'Arc castle is more recent than the Chateau de Roche. It was built by Mr. Chaudois in 1751. The building is surrounded by a large park of three hectares protected by a surrounding wall. It has been an historical monument since 1984. There was a third fortified chateau in Arc – the Châtel-Rouillaud – but it burned down in 1638. Today there remains only the mound on which it was built. * The Graduation de la Saline (Graduation of the Saltworks) (1775) * The Royal Saltworks (1775) World Heritage Logo global

* The Chateau de Roche (18th century). Originally it was a castle guarding a road and a ford on the Loue. In 1756 it was completely rebuilt by the Marquis de Grammont who intended to make it a home. It is this work that can be seen today. The body of the building is flanked by two square towers with Imperial roofs. In 1864, Amédée Caron transformed it again and implemented industrial activity around the chateau. The castle is now privately owned and can not be visited. It has been an historical monument since 1974. ;Gallery of Pictures of the Royal Saltworks File:Koenigliche Saline in Arc-et-Senans Bild2 800px.jpg File:Arc-et-Senans - Saline Royale (09).jpg File:Arc-et-Senans - Saline Royale (08).jpg File:Arc-et-Senans - Saline Royale (01).jpg, Entrance File:Arc-et-Senans - Saline Royale (11).jpg File:Arc-et-Senans - Saline Royale (05).jpg File:Arc-et-Senans - Plan de la saline royale.jpg, Plan of the Royal Saltworks File:Koenigliche Saline in Arc-et-Senans Bild7 800px.jpg, Interior of the Royal Saltworks File:Arc et Senans Jardin 02.jpg, The Garden at the Royal Saltworks File:SalinesRoyales-PortailMaisonDirecteur.jpg, The Directors house entrance

Religious heritage

The religious heritage of the town is complemented by several wayside crosses erected in the village and by the presence of two chapels. The Chapel of Arc was built with donations from parishioners and consecrated in 1913. It is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The bell tower has been rebuilt over nearly 25 years: farmers funded the work by donating the proceeds of the sale of the dairy factory. A complete renovation of the building was completed in 1997 by a team of volunteers. The Chapel de la Grotte des Essarts (Chapel of the Essarts Cave) was built after the

cholera epidemic Seven cholera pandemics have occurred in the past 200 years, with the first pandemic originating in India in 1817. The seventh cholera pandemic is officially a current pandemic and has been ongoing since 1961, according to a World Health Organi ...

of 1854. Father Coutteret vowed to build this monument if the Virgin Mary protected the parish. It is a stone building located on a natural promontory overlooking the village and the Royal Saltworks. A procession is held every 15 August. In 2006 the procession was carried out at night with torches and the chapel was illuminated for the occasion with a generator. The commune has renovated the chapel through a subscription. The Church of Saint-Bénigne was built in the 19th century in the classical style. The bell tower was rebuilt exactly in 1921 following a fire caused by a storm. The church has two organs. It also has many items that are registered as historical objects: * A Painting: Christ and the ''chananéenne'' * A Painting: Virgin and Child with donors (17th century) * A Painting: The Saintly Family (17th century) * A Painting: Placing in the Tomb (17th century) * A Painting: Saint Joseph and the infant Jesus (17th century) * A Painting: The Redemption (17th century) * 4 Paintings: Scenes of the life of the Virgin (17th century) * A Wayside Cross (19th century) * A

Pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

(19th century) * A Painting: Placing in the Tomb (16th century) * A Painting: Virgin and child (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy

Transportation

The commune has a railway station, , on the and Dijon–Vallorbe lines.

Notable people linked to the commune

Claude-Nicolas Ledoux Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (; 21 March 1736 – 18 November 1806) was one of the earliest exponents of French Neoclassical architecture. He used his knowledge of architectural theory to design not only domestic architecture but also town planning; ...

, 1736–1806, architect of the Royal Saltworks * René Caron, 1861–1930, administrator of the

Banque de France The Bank of France ( ) is the national central bank for France within the Eurosystem. It was the French central bank between 1800 and 1998, issuing the French franc. It does not translate its name to English, and thus calls itself ''Banque de ...

, MP for

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

, president of the Union of Agricultural associations of

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; ) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

and

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

, vice-president of the Agricultural Union of Centre-East, vice-president of the Forestry Society of the East, administrator of the branch for the Caisse épargne de

at Arc-et-Senans, member of the Central Trade Union Chamber of the agricultural associations of France, member of the Chamber of agriculture of

, member of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of

, knight of the pontifical Order of Saint Gregory the great. He married Anne Marie Jacquard and was the son of Amédée Caron, engineer of Art and Manufactured products, sub-director of the Central Industrial and property finance School and of the Anne Alexandrine Nicolas de Meissas. * Father Jean-François Rigaud, born in 1834 to a farming family in the village. He joined the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

and became a priest in 1861. He took part in a mission to eastern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He was killed on 2 January 1869. * Monseigneur Joseph-Auguste Chevalier, born on 16 March 1814. He was ordained priest in 1837 and joined the

. He made his mission in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On 11 November 1873 he was named Bishop of

Hierapolis Hierapolis (; , lit. "Holy City") was a Hellenistic Greek city built on the site of a Phrygian cult center of the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, in Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It was famous for its hot springs, its high qualit ...

and apostolic vicar of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. He died on 25 March 1880 of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

and was buried in the Choir of the Cathedral of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

in India. * Father Pierre Poncet, born at Arc-et-Senans on 28 April 1932. He did his secondary studies at the Masters School of the Cathedral of

then entered the large seminary in the same city. In 1953 he did his military service then requested admission to the

in 1954. In 1956 he was newly summoned by the army to go to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and served as 2nd lieutenant during those months. On returning to the Rue du Bac in Paris (headquarters of the Paris Foreign Missions Society) he was ordained priest on 2 February 1958 and was nominated as apostolic vicar of

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

(Central

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

). He died at

from a burst of sub-machine gun fire on 13 February 1968, as was another missionary – Father Cressonnier. * Bernard Jobin, artist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcetsenans Communes of Doubs