Château-Salins (; , from 1941–44 ''Salzburgen'') is a commune in the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Grand Est
Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten;
Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administ ...
in north-eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. Until 2015, Château-Salins was a
subprefecture
A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province.
Albania
There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...
The town is relatively recent. The territory on which the castle, and later the town, was built was part of the domains of the
bishopric of Metz
The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552. The Bishops of Metz had already ruled over a significant amount of territories within the former Kingd ...
.
Legend has it that pilgrims on their way to
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle ''département'' in north-eastern France.
The town's basilica, '' Saint Nicolas'', is a pilgrimage site, supposedly holding relics of Saint Nicholas brought from Italy. It is one of ...
discovered a salt spring. Around 1340, the regent Elisabeth of Austria, widow of Duke Ferry IV, had a castle built to protect the exploitation of this spring. In order to control the ducal building, Bishop Adhémar de Monteil also had a fortress built, which he named Beaurepaire, at some distance from there.